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JOURNALS 



LIVES AND GOSPEL LABOURS 



WILLIAM CATON, 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 



SttonB @Bttum. . 



A BRIEF MEMOIR 



CO:>*CEPv^I>"G 



JOHN CHOKER, 

OF PLYMOUTH. 



NO TV FIRST PUBLISHED. 



LONDON: 

HARVEY AND DARTON, GRACECHURCH STREET. 
1839. 



*$ 



LONDON: 

JOHNSTON AND BARRETT, PRINTERS, 
MARK LANE. 



PREFACE. 



The present volume contains a re-print of the 
Lives and Gospel Labours of William Caton and 
John Burnyeat, — the former from the First Edi- 
tion of 1689, the latter from that of 1691 ; to 
which is added a Brief Memoir concerning John 
Croker, of Plymouth, who was born in the year 
1673, now first published. 

The Editor thinks it proper to explain, respecting 
this edition of William Caton's Life, that instead of 
adopting the very short chapters of the first edition, 
he has divided the work into chapters of more 
convenient length and periods, and fresh head- 
ings have been given to them. The text of the 
original edition has been pretty closely followed ; 
some verbal changes to a limited extent have 
been made, to favour grammatical construction, 
and lessen the unnecessary repetition of some 
words and particles. The Editor has also been 
able, through the kindness of his friends, to intro- 
duce into this edition several very interesting 
unpublished letters of William Caton, which give 
additional information respecting his labours and 
a2 



IV PREFACE. 

services ; they are nearly all from originals, 
which appear in very good legible hand-writing 
for that day : these, with a few other letters and 
quotations from published sources, are intro- 
duced within brackets, or otherwise described, to 
denote that they are the additions now made to 
the text of the first edition of the Author's Life. 

The Journal of John Burnyeat is nearly a ver- 
batim re-print of the first edition ; the chief vari- 
ations may be stated to be in orthography and 
occasional division into more convenient para- 
graphs, with a very few verbal omissions, mostly of 
particles. This work has also been divided into 
chapters with headings, for the first time. A 
portion of the Epistles contained in the first 
edition are added : they are truly valuable and 
edifying. In several of these ancient epistles 
to the churches, from both of the above Authors, 
we often meet with exhortations and advice 
remarkably applicable to present times and recent 
trials in the Society. 

The concluding Memoir concerning John Croker, 
now first put in print, has remained in manuscript 
during several generations, in the possession of 
the Fox family of the western counties of Devon 



PREFACE. V 

and Cornwall, into which family a sister of the 
author married. It is hoped that this Memoir 
will be perused with much interest and profit, 
more especially by the youth amongst us. 

Since the publication of the last volume of the 
Select Series, the valuable and deeply devoted 
services of its Editor have been closed by his 
removal from works to rewards. Fervent were 
his desires, and earnest his exertions, to promote 
the religious welfare and edification of his fellow 
professors, as well as of others of every class, who 
loved " in sincerity" " our Lord Jesus Christ" and 
" His appearing." Had his life been spared, and 
strength bestowed, it is probable he would have 
added to the present work other volumes of interest 
and of worth. It is the desire of the undersigned 
(his brother), to be enabled to follow up, accord- 
ing to his limited qualifications, a publication which 
appears to have been acceptably received, and its 
circulation much encouraged by Friends. 

A. R. BARCLAY. 

Leytonstone, near London, 
Ninth Month, 1839. 



ERRATA. 

Page 6, Line 16 — read became for become. 

„ 81, In the letter to Thos. Willan, 2nd line, read 

omit for admit. 
„ 130, In the lowest Epistle, read, " Dear Friends." 



CONTENTS. 



Life of William Caton. 

Page 

Chapter I. The infinite mercy of the Lord God to 
him from his very infancy ; how it was with 
him in the days of his youth : his introduction 
into Judge Fell's family at Swarthmore - 1 

Chapter II. 1652. — George Fox's first visit to 
Swarthmore ; the tendency of his doctrine — 
W. C. leaves school, and becomes an inmate in 
the Fell family, as teacher and writer ; the di- 
vine love and refreshment prevalent amongst 
them — W.C.is moved to go into steeple-houses, 
markets, &c. — Quits Swarthmore 4 

Chapter III. 1654. — Leaving Swarthmore he tra- 
vels southwards into Warwickshire and to 
Norwich, and afterwards to London ; he and 
the brethren have great service in that city, &c. 13 

Chapter IV. 1655. — He travels with John Stubbs 
into Kent ; they reach Dover, are haled before 
the Magistrates — Luke Howard — his boldness 
in their service — They proceed to Hythe and 
other places ; — are cruelly treated at Maid- 
stone - -17 



CONTENTS. 

Page 
Chapter V. 1655.— He visits Calais in France- 
returns to Dover — Travels to Yarmouth, and 
afterwards into the North — With John Stubbs 
sails to Holland ; their labours in that country 
— returns to England 30 

Chapter VI. 1655. — Visits Scotland, passing through 
Northumberland — Has good service for the 
Lord at Edinburgh and Glasgow — Returns to 
Swarthmore, and proceeds to Cheshire - - 36 

Chapter VII. 1656. — Attends a general meeting in 
Leicestershire — Again visits Scotland ; has 
good meetings at Edinburgh, Leith, Stirling, 
&c. — Returns to Swarthmore, and proceeds to 
Bristol and into Cornwall — Visits George Fox 
in Launceston gaol 43 

Chapter VIII. He returns to Bristol, and travels 
eastward into Kent — Remarks on the exercise 
of his gift— Reaches London - - - - 49 

Chapter IX. ] 656. — Sails for Holland —Visits Am- 
sterdam and Rotterdam — His service at both 
places— Is imprisoned at Middleburgh, and 
conveyed on board a ship of war for England — 
Travels into the South of England, returns to 
London (1656-7)— and proceeds again to Hol- 
land ---'- 53 

Chapter X. 1657. — His service in several cities in 
Holland — The love of God to him and Friends 
there— He returns again to England — Attends 
a general meeting in Bedfordshire — Proceeds 
northward, and reaches Swarthmore - - 66 



CONTENTS. XI 

Page 
Chapter XI. 1658.— Travels to London— His la- 
bours in Kent, Sussex, &c. — Proceeds to Bris- 
tol, and returns to London — Attends a General 
meeting of Ministering Friends at the Bull and 
Month (1659) — Sails again to Holland and re- 
turns—Dangers on his voyage back - -72 

Chapter XII. 1659. — He proceeds by sea to Sun- 
derland, and passes westward to Swarthmore — 
His services in Cumberland — Travels to Edin- 
burgh, Leith, and other parts, and returns to 
Swarthmore 78 

Chapter XIII. 1659-60.— His service in the South 
of Lancashire — Attends a general meeting at 
Balby in Yorkshire — Travels to London, also 
into Sussex, Kent, and so into Norfolk — Re- 
turns to London and proceeds to Dover - 84 

Chapter XIY. 1660.— He leaves Dover for Holland 
— His service in several cities and places — 
Returns to London (1661), but soon after re- 
visits Holland — He travels with William Ames 
into Germany — At Heidelberg is courteously 
treated by the Prince Palatine - - - 92 

Chapter XV*. 1661 . — He visits Manheim and Frank- 
fort, his ill-treatment in a Monastery — visits the 
Jesuits' College at Worms — At Heidelberg is 
introduced to the Prince — His proceedings in 
relation to marriage — Is married to Annekin 
Dirrix, at Amsterdam, 1662 - - - - 104 



Xll CONTEXTS. 

Page 

Chapter XVI. 1662. — He returns to England ; 
when in London, he sees Edward Burrough, in 
Newgate, shortly before his death — Travels into 
Surrey, Sussex, and Kent ; is apprehended at 
Folkestone, but is discharged — Again visits 
Holland, and returns with his wife : travels 
into Warwickshire, &c, and arrives at Swarth- 
more ---- 116 

Chapter XVII. 1663.— He visits Friends in Cum- 
berland — Proceeds into Durham — At Scarbo- 
rough takes shipping for Holland, but reaches 
Yarmouth Roads — is driven back by storm 
again to Yarmouth, where he is committed to 
prison from Eighth month, 1663, to Second 
month, 1664 122 

Epistles 126 



Journal of the Life and Gospel Labours of 
John Burnyeat. 

Testimony concerning him by George Fox - - 143 
An Account by way of Testimony concerning him, 

by Friends in London, &c. - - - - 145 

Chapter I. Account of John Burnyeat's eonvince- 
ment, 1653;— The various deep exercises of 
mind, which he and his early companions in 
religious profession passed through; — The 
gospel worship into which they were gathered, 
&c. 1^9 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

Page 
Chapter II. His diligence in attending meetings ; 
— the delight and profit experienced in keeping 
near to the power of Truth. — Is moved to speak 
in the public places of worship at Aspetry, 
Lorton, Brigham — is committed to Carlisle gaol. 
— In 1658 travels into Scotland ; and in 1659 
into Ireland - -- - - - -167 

Chapter III. 1662. — Proceeds for London by York- 
shire, but is imprisoned at Ripon fourteen 
w r eeks. — In 1664 sails for Barbadoes. — John 
Perrot's notions. — Visits Virginia, and New 
England ; — in 1667 returns to Barbadoes, and 
thence to England ; travels into various 
countries -- 183 

Chapter IV. In 1670, again sails for Barbadoes. — 
William Simpson — his death. — Visits New 
England and other parts of the Colonial States : 
— meets with George Fox. — His travels and 
services in those countries - - - - 194 

Chapter V. The author travels with John Stubbs ; 
— At Rhode Island, attends a long public dis- 
pute, and again at Hartford : his other services. 
— In 1673, lands in Ireland ; visits most of the 
meetings in that country : returns to England, 
vists Westmoreland Quarterly Meeting ; — Case 
of John Wilkinson and John Story, 1675 ; — 
Travels into other parts ; troubles respecting 
J. W. and J. S. 209 



XIV COX TENTS. 

Page 

Chapter VI. Abstract of some of the letters of 

John Burnyeat, in continuation of his travels, 

from 1673 to 1690— His marriage in 1683— His 

imprisonment in Dublin — Death of his wife, 

1688 220 

A paper of John Burnyeat's, that came to hand, since 

his works were printed 231 

Chapter VII. An abstract of some of John Burn- 
yeat's letters to his brother, T. A., of London, 
in continuation of his travels for the last eight 
years of his life, being all in his own hand- 
writing 233 

Epistles of John Burnyeat 256 

Life of John Croker 2S1 



JOURNAL 



LIFE OF THAT FAITHFUL SERVANT 



AND MINISTER OF THE 



GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, 

WILLIAM CATON: 

FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE YEAR 1689. 



gccontf lE&itum. 



TO WHICH ARE NOW ADDED, FROM ORIGINAL AND OTHER SOURCES, 

SOME OF HIS LETTERS, MOST OF WHICH, IT IS BELIEVED, 

HAVE NOT BEEN BEFORE PUBLISHED. 



LONDON: 

1839. 



GEORGE FOX'S TESTIMONY 



CONCERNING 



WILLIAM CATON. 



In the year 1663, William Caton went to Holland, 
and not long after he had finished his testimony 
there, he died ; and soon after that, his wife died ; 
and he left this journal of passages* behind him^ 
which was sent to me, which I thought fit to put in 
print and recommend to all that knew him. For 
after he was converted, he preached the Gospel of 
Christ, and strengthened his brethren. And you 
may see he was one like to the converted scribes in 
the kingdom of God, which bring forth things new 
and old. And he was one like unto Timothy, who 
was an example both in innocency, simplicity, and 
purity in his life and conversation, after he was 
converted ; for that did preach, as well as his doc- 
trine, in the churches of Christ. And whereas 
many have made a boast and a talk of Truth in the 
beginning, that never knew what it was ; but in 
his relation, you may see both an example and a 
testimony of Truth in the beginning, and how for 
many years he travelled many weary steps on foot, 

* [See Note, page 130.] 



xviii george fox's testimony, &c. 

both in England, Scotland, and elsewhere, in the 
Lord's service. And his innocent life preached both 
righteousness and truth where he came ; and was 
a good savour to God, and in the hearts of the 
people ; and he was one that had a care of God's 
glory and honour, and the spreading of the Truth, 
and the prosperity of it ; and in it he spent him- 
self and finished his testimony; who, in his life- 
time, wrote many precious epistles to Friends, 
besides several books. And in his travels he had 
many trials and exercises by false brethren, back- 
sliders, and apostates, besides his perils by the sea, 
and among the priests and professors ; but the Lord 
with his eternal arm and power gave him dominion 
over all. And as for his opposers, they withered 
and vanished away; and after he had finished his 
testimony, he died in the Lord, and is blessed, and 
rests from his labours, and his works follow him. 



G. F. 



Gooses, {near Brentwood, Essex, his son-in-law 
W. Mead's house,] ±th of Sixth month, 1688. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM CATON. 



CHAPTER I. 



The infinite mercy of the Lord God to him from 
his very infancy ; how it was with him in the days 
of his youth: his introduction into Judge FeWs 
family at Swarthmore. 

The God of my salvation hath been pleased of his 
infinite love, to show mercy unto me from my very 
infancy unto this present clay, and hath through a 
secret hand kept and preserved me from many of 
the evils in the world, which befall the children 
of men, and with which many of them are over- 
come ; yea, from my very childhood hath he dealt 
exceeding gently, bountifully, and mercifully with 
me, and especially since he was pleased to make 
known his heavenly truth in me, and his eternal 
salvation unto me. How should I therefore for- 
bear to show forth his praise, and to declare his 
wonderful works ? to the end, that others may learn 
to fear and know him, to serve and obey him, that 
their souls may receive mercy from him as I have 
done, and that they may praise and magnify him 
in the land of the living, — who is God over all, the 



!£ THE LIFE OF 

Creator of all things ; to whom be glory, honour, 
and dominion for ever and ever. 

When I was a child I was nurtured and tutored 
with such a fatherly care and motherly affection, as 
my parents at that day were endued with. While 
T was yet very young, my heart was inclining to 
wisdom and understanding : and being inspired 
with a divine principle, I did in those days sometimes 
feel the power of it overcoming my heart, and be- 
getting tenderness in it towards my Creator, when 
I have stood musing upon his handiwork : and 
through this divine principle, I was much restrained 
from some evil vices which children are prone and 
incident to. But, alas, I knew not, that that which 
restrained me was within me, though I had a dread 
and fear upon me when I was liable to sin against 
my Creator ; which now I know right well, came 
through the aforesaid divine principle. Howbeit, 
I had also a fear upon me of reproof and chastise- 
ment from my parents, who according to their 
knowledge endeavoured to educate me in virtue and 
Godliness : and therefore did thev instruct me to 
pray morning and evening, to read often, and to go 
frequently to hear that which they called the Word 
of God. And great was their care to bring me up 
in the fear of the Lord, according to their ability 
and understanding, as also in good fashion (as they 
called it) in the world ; therefore did they educate 
me in such schools as the country there did afford, 
and that for many years. 

When I was about fourteen years of age, my 
father took me to Judge Fell's, there to learn with 
a kinsman (a priest) who was preceptor to the afore- 
said judge's son ; and thereby I came to have an 
opportunity to be conversant with them that were 



WILLIAM CATON. 



great in the -world. And through the mercy of the 
Lord, I behaved myself so well among them as to 
the outward, that I found favour among the whole 
family, even from the greatest to the least of them ; 
and was in due time promoted to be a companion 
night and day to the judge's son, and did eat as he 
did eat, and lodged as he lodged, and went after the 
same pleasure which he went unto, as to fishing, 
hunting, shooting, &c. In that day my heart was 
affected with my condition ; forasmuch as Provi- 
dence had cast me into such a noble family, where 
there were such sweet children, with whose com- 
pany I was more than a little affected; and in 
much pleasure, ease and fulness, I lived with them 
as my heart could well desire. In those days there 
remained an integrity in my heart towards God, 
and often did I call upon his name : to that end, I 
would linger in the chamber, until the judge's 
son, with whom I lodged, was gone down, that 
afterwards I might go to prayer alone; for my 
soul desired to have the blessing and favour of the 
Lord, in which there was satisfaction to be found, 
but not in the pleasures which I followed, nor yet in 
the ease and fulness in which I then lived. 

After we had learnt some time together in the 
judge's family, we were removed to a school in the 
country, at a place called Hawkshead ; where I 
met with many temptations, and seldom good com- 
pany, but such as were given to folly and wanton- 
ness. But the Lord was wonderfully gracious to 
me ; and many times when I have deserved nothing 
but stripes from him, hath he broken and overcome 
my heart with his divine love ; so that I have often 
stood admiring his wonderful mercy, his long-suffer- 
ing ; forbearance, and infinite goodness : for truly 
b2 



4: THE LIFE OF 

had his compassion failed, I might have been 
destroyed in the sins of my youth : but blessed be 
his name for ever, he had mercy on me. And as 
Providence ordered it, we did not stay long at that 
school, but returned to Judge Fell's, where it was. 
with me as before mentioned, so that I began to see 
pretty far into the depth of what the world could 
afford. 

Being then about fifteen years of age, my heart 
was pretty much inclined after wisdom, as also to 
seek after knowledge ; for in that family there was a 
great profession, and such as could speak of the 
Scripture, and could make repetitions of sermons, and 
paraphrase thereupon, were held in esteem : there- 
fore I endeavoured much to retain the heads thereof, 
hut when my memory would not serve me to do as 
some did in that particular, I used myself to write 
much after the priests : but that which I reaped 
thereby, could not give satisfaction to my soul, 
which at times hungered much after the Lord. 



CHAPTER II. 



1652. — George Fox' s first visit to Sivarthmore; the 
tendency of Ins doctrine — TT r . C. leaves school, and 
oecomes an inmate in the Fell family, as teacher 
and writer ; the divine love and refreshment pre- 
valent amongst them — Is moved to go into steeple- 
houses, markets, cjx. — Quits Syvarthmore. 

In the year 1652, about the middle of the Fourth 
month, was that faithful messenger and servant of 
the Most High, by name George Fox, cast among 



WILLIAM CATON. 



us, who declared unto us the way of life and peace. 
Of those in that family who believed his report, 
I was one, who came finally to be affected with 
his doctrine ; though at the first I did as much 
admire at his non-conformity to our fashions, 
customs, and salutations, as strangers at this day 
admire at our non- conformity unto them ; yet 
something in me did love him, and own his 
testimony. And I began to find the truth of 
what he spoke in myself; for his doctrine tended 
very much to the bringing of us to the light, which 
Christ Jesus had enlightened us withal, which shined, 
in our hearts, and convinced us of sin and evil ; and 
into love with that, and obedience to that, he sought 
to bring us, that thereby through the Son we might 
be brought into unity and covenant with the Lord. 

And in due time the witness of God was 
awakened in me, whereby my sins came to be set 
in order before me ; and it brought judgment and 
condemnation upon me by reason of them : but I, 
being as the wild heifer which is unaccustomed to 
the yoke, sought to get from under it, as I often 
did, until I came to know something of the power 
of God, which brought that wild nature in me, 
which was unaccustomed to the yoke, into subjection. 
And so good was the Lord unto me, that I had not 
long heard the Truth, when I came to be a witness 
of the power of it in myself; whereby the strong 
man was made to bow in himself, and the keepers 
of the house to tremble. 

At that time I had not left the school, but did go 
along with Judge Fell's son thereto ; and he being 
somewhat convinced of the same truth, and some- 
what touched with the same power, it was the 
easier and the better for me: howbeit, we were 



6 THE LIFE OF 

often wild, vain and wanton, and sported ourselves 
in folly, to the extinguishing of the good oftentimes 
in ourselves. But such was the love of God to me 
in those days, that I was as surely pursued with 
judgment, as I was overtaken with folly. Some- 
times I would separate myself from the rest of my 
school-fellows, and get retired into some place, 
where I might wait upon the Lord, and ponder 
upon his marvellous works. When I was thus 
retired, and in singleness of heart waited upon the 
Lord, I received refreshment from him ; but when 
I was drawn aside through the provocation of my 
companion, or the temptations of the wicked one in 
myself, then was I troubled and disquieted in my 
own heart. 

In process of time my study become my burden ; 
for when I was so much in trouble through the 
condemnation that was upon me, I was so much 
the more incapable of making themes, Latin verses, 
&c, neither could I well give unto the master the 
trivial compliment of the hat, for I was then con- 
vinced in my conscience of the vanity of it. My 
special friend Margaret Fell (the judge's wife) taking 
notice of my condition, was not willing to suffer 
me to go longer to the school than 1 was free, but 
caused me to stay at home to teach her children, 
and to go with her when she went abroad, and to 
write for her, &c, which was a happy time forme ; 
for after that I left the school, I was also much 
exercised in writing of precious and wholesome 
things pertaining to the Truth ; whereby I came to 
have good opportunities to be conversant with 
Friends, in whom the life of righteousness began to 
bud and spring forth, and who grew in love and 
unity, with which my soul was exceedingly affected; 



WILLIAM CATON. / 

and I desired very much to be one with them in it, 
that I might share with them therein, for my soul 
was delighted with it and in it, far beyond the 
pleasures and delights of this transitory world. 

When I was about seventeen years of age, the 
power of the Lord God did work mightily and 
effectually in me, to the purging, cleansing, and 
sanctifying of me ; and then I began to see some- 
thing of the gloriousness of the ministration of 
condemnation, and of the goodness of the word 
of life, which was become as afire in my bones, and 
as a sword and liammer in my heart. And then I 
began to be broken, melted, and overcome with the 
love of God, which sprang up in my heart, and 
with the divine and precious promises that were 
confirmed to my soul. Oh ! the preciousness and 
excellency of that day ! Oh ! the glory and the 
blessedness of that day ! how, or wherewith shall I 
demonstrate it? or by what means shall I explain 
it, that generations to come, and they that are yet 
unborn, might understand it, and give glory unto 
the Lord Jehovah ? 

Oh ! the love which in that day abounded among 
us, especially in that family ! and oh ! the fresh- 
ness of the power of the Lord God, which then 
was amongst us; and the zeal for Him and his 
truth, the comfort and refreshment which we had 
from his presence, — the nearness and dearness that 
was amongst us one towards another, — the openings 
and revelations which we then had ! I confess I 
find myself insufficient to declare these things to the 
utmost; neither do I now intend to go about to 
describe the multitude of them particularly ; for 
then I might make a larger volume by much, 
than now I am intending ; but, my very heart is 



8 



THE LIFE OF 



affected with the remembrance of them at this very- 
day. 

In those days were meetings exceeding precious 
to us, insomuch that some few of us did commonly 
spend some time eveiy night in waiting upon the 
Lord; yea, often after the rest of the family were gone 
to bed : and, oh ! the comfort and refreshment which 
we had together, and the benefit which we reaped 
thereby, how shall I declare it ! For if we had 
suffered loss in the day-time, when we had been 
abroad about our business or the like, then we came 
in a great measure thus to be restored again, through 
the love, power, and mercy of our God, which 
abounded very much unto us : howbeit, sometimes I 
was deprived of that sweet society (when my heart 
was with them) through my going to my bed so 
early with the judge's son, with whom I then did 
lodge ; who for a season was tender and hopeful ; 
but afterwards meeting with many temptations, his 
heart was drawn aside from the truth, and his mind 
ran after the delights and pleasures of this present 
world. When he was removed to another school, 
we came to be separated, which was at that time 
no disadvantage to me in one respect, though looked 
upon by some to be a disadvantage to me as to my 
outward preferment : but in that day I could have 
chosen much rather to have done any kind of la- 
bour pertaining to the house, with the servants that 
were in the truth, than to have enjoyed the delights 
of this world with this son, or any one else, for a 
season. For my delight was not then, so much as 
it had been, in the vain, perishing, and transitory 
things of the world, but my delight was then in 
the Lord, in his mercy and loving-kindness, and to 
be with his people; for the sake of whose company 



WILLIAM CATON. 9 

I could have exposed myself to some pretty hard 
employment; neither was it then too contemptible 
for me to become as Amos, a keeper of cattle, or as 
Elisha, to follow the plough ; for indeed in those 
days I did enjoy and possess that which made all 
things easy and light to me. And oh ! the abun- 
dance of living refreshment, which I received from 
the Lord ! it is hard for me to utter or declare the 
same to the utmost : for I was often overcome with 
the love of my Father, which did exceedingly break 
and ravish my heart, and so I know it was with 
others of that family; and of the overflowings 
thereof, did we communicate one to another, to the 
comforting and refreshing one of another : and truly 
willing we were to sympathize and bear one with 
another, to be helpful one unto another, and in true 
and tender love to watch one over another. And, 
oh ! the love, mercy, and power of God, which 
abounded to us, through us, and among us, who 
shall declare it? And hence came that worthy 
family to be so renowned in the nation, the fame of 
which spread much among Friends : and the power 
and presence of the Lord being so much there with 
us, it was as a means to induce many, even from afar, 
to come thither ; so that at one time there would 
have been Friends out of five or six counties : all 
which tended to the augmenting of my refreshment ; 
for by reason of my much writing, it came to pass 
that I especially was much conversant with them, 
and thereby I had a privilege beyond others of my 
fellow-servants; for I was frequently with dear 
George Fox, who, as a tender-hearted father (after 
he had begotten me through the Gospel), sought 
to nurture me up in all wisdom, faithfulness, and 
righteousness, to the glory and praise of my heavenly 



10 THE LIFE OF 

Father. And on the other hand was I cherished, 
and encouraged in the way of life, by my entirely 
beloved friend Margaret Fell, who as a tender- 
hearted nursing mother cared for me, and was as 
tender of me, as if I had been one of her own 
children : oh ! the kindness, the respect, and friend- 
ship which she showed me, ought never to be for- 
gotten by me. 

When I had thus plentifully reaped of the mercy 
of the Most High, and his power had wrought so 
effectually in me, to the redeeming of my soul from 
death, then did his word of life begin to grow 
powerful in me : and seeing the darkness and 
ignorance so great, in which people were involved, 
my spirit was stirred within me, and my earthen 
vessel came to be filled with love to their souls, 
and with zeal for God and his truth. And about 
that time I began to know the motion of his power 
and the command of his spirit ; by which I came 
to be moved to go to the places of public worship, 
to declare against the deceit of the priests, and the 
sins of the people, and to warn all to repent : for I 
testified to them that the day of the Lord was 
coming. But oh ! the weakness, the fear and trem- 
bling in which I went upon this message, — who 
shall declare it? and how did I plead with the 
Lord concerning this matter : for I looked upon my 
own weakness and insufficiency, and how unfit I 
was in my own apprehension, to encounter with 
gainsayers, who I knew would also despise my 
youth. Howbeit, whatsoever I alleged by way of 
reasoning against the Lord concerning this weighty 
matter, I could not be excused; but I must go, 
and declare what he should give me to speak ; and 
his promise was, he would be with me. 



WILLIAM CATON. 



11 



Wherefore when I saw it must be so, I put on 
courage in the name of the Lord ; and having faith 
in him, which stood in his power, I next gave up 
to his will, and went in obedience to his motion. 
And when I came to the place, behold, the consul- 
tations which before I had had, were gone, and the 
fear of man was departed from me ; and strength, and 
courage, and boldness, and utterance were given 
me, so that I became, through him that strengthened 
me, rather as a potent man than as a stripling, and 
that even in the face of the congregations. Howbeit, 
my testimony was by many little regarded, neither 
did thev lav to heart what I declared among them ; 
but some as brute beasts fell upon me, and did much 
abuse me; others pitied me and were much troubled 
for me; and sometimes they were much divided 
among themselves, for some were for me, and others 
against me ; but in the midst of them the Lord was 
with me, and his mighty power did preserve me ; 
and when I had cleared my conscience among them, 
I returned in much peace and joy in the Holy 
Ghost, for my reward was with me. 

After that the Lord had fitted me for his work as 
aforesaid, I was much exercised in going to steeple- 
houses, insomuch that there seldom passed a First 
day of the week, but I was at one or another ; and 
I was also often in markets, where I was moved to 
declare God's eternal truth, which through his 
infinite mercy I was become a witness of. And 
though when I went to such places as aforesaid, I 
seldom knew what I should say till I came there ; 
yet behold when I was to speak I never wanted 
words or utterance, to declare that which the Lord 
gave me to publish ; but oftentimes on the contrary 
I had fulness to my great admiration. And the 



12 THE LIFE OF 

beating, buffeting, stocking, stoning, with the many 
reproaches which I went through in those clays, 
were little to me ; nay,' not to be compared to the 
refreshment which I had through the enjoyment of 
the life, power, and love, which the Father had 
revealed in me, and by which I was carried through 
them and over them all. By how much the more 
the Lord tried me in those days, by so much the 
more I came to experience his loving-kindness to 
me. 

And after that the Lord came to honour me with 
bearing his name, and accounted me worthy to bear 
my testimony, both in public and in private, to his 
eternal truth, I had much favour and respect from 
and among his people, whose love abounded much 
to me ; and I being sensible thereof, was very much 
supported and strengthened thereby, in that service 
which God appointed for me, and called me unto 
in those days. When such service was over I re- 
turned again to the place of my residence, where 
I was diligent in my employment, until the Lord 
ordered me to other service again, either to meetings 
abroad on the first days of the week, or else to 
steeple-houses : and the Lord was with me, and 
his word of life did often pass powerfully through 
me, and never did I go about any service for the 
Lord, in which I was faithful, but I had always my 
reward with me. 

When I returned again unto that honourable 
family, the place of my external abode, (I mean 
Judo*e Fell's at Swarthmore in Lancashire.) then 
was our refreshment very great together in the 
Lord, and with rejoicing did we speak together of 
his wonderful works, which were very marvellous 
in our eyes. And after I had had many glorious 



WILLIAM CATON. 13 

days there, and seen many of the wonderful works 
of the Lord, in the fulness of time, according to the 
will of God, I was called out from among them, the 
Lord having other service for me abroad elsewhere. 
When it was the will of the Lord that I should go, 
the judge was much against it, being then very 
unwilling to part with me ; but his dear wife, who 
could not well give me up before, was then made 
willing freely to resign me to the will of the Lord, 
especially upon so honourable an account ; for I left 
not them to go to serve other men, but to publish the 
name of the Lord, and to declare his eternal truth 
abroad. 



CHAPTER III. 



1654. — Leaving Swarthmore he travels southwards 
into Warwickshire and to Norwich, and after- 
wards to London; he and the brethren have great 
service in that city, fyc. 

It was in the year 1654, in the Eleventh month, 
when I was about eighteen years of age, that I took 
my leave of that renowned family at Swarthmore. 
But, oh ! the tears that w r ere shed among us at our 
parting; — oh! the prayers and intercessions that 
were made to the Lord; and what deep impression 
our parting had upon our hearts, who can declare the 
same? So exceedingly were we united and bound 
up together, that it was very hard for us to part one 
w r ith another. Howbeit, when we considered upon 
what account it was, and that notwithstanding our 



14 THE LIFE OF 

then external parting, we should enjoy one another 
in the Lord, &c. then could we give up to the will 
of the Lord so much the better in the thing. There- 
fore according to the will of the Lord, in his name 
and power, I set my face southwards ; and visited 
Friends in Lancashire, and in some parts of York- 
shire and Derbyshire, which counties I passed 
through into Warwickshire, to a place called Badg- 
ley ; where I met with many of the brethren, who 
did dearly own the power, and the motion of it, by 
which I was drawn forth into that glorious work : 
and being very sweetly refreshed together, and con- 
firmed in the faith and power of God, and en- 
couraged to go on in that glorious and honourable 
service, I took my leave of them, and went on in 
the name and power of the Lord towards Norwich 
in Norfolk, (being accompanied with another 
Friend ;) and coming to Wellingborough in North- 
amptonshire, we found several there newly con- 
vinced of the Lord's truth, with whom we were 
much refreshed. And being there the First day of 
the week, it was upon me to go to their steeple- 
house, where I had some liberty (and but little) to 
declare the everlasting truth of God. After that 
I returned to the meeting of Friends, where the 
power and presence of the Lord God was with us ; 
so that a very sweet, comfortable, and refreshing 
meeting we had. Howbeit, that day I and my 
companion were apprehended, and kept that night 
in custody ; but the next day, as Providence or- 
dered it, while the priest and some with him (as we 
were informed) were gone to get a warrant to bring 
us before a justice, we were by a certain officer 
released. 

After that we travelled towards Cambridge, where 



WILLIAM CATON. 15 

we had a very good opportunity to visit Friends; 
which having done, we passed on our journey to- 
wards Norwich. It being in the depth of winter, 
and we travelling altogether on foot, it was some- 
thing hard to the outward man ; but the Lord was 
with us, and his mighty power upheld us, and car- 
ried us through all, and through mercy we got 
finally well to Norwich ; where there were several of 
our north country Friends in prison, whom we 
visited, and with whom we were sweetly refreshed. 

In this city we had a very large meeting, unto 
which many people resorted; and the Lord was 
with me, and gave me a mouth and wisdom freely 
and powerfully to declare his living truth : at that 
time we were also in much jeopardy of being taken, 
but the Lord preserved us out of the hands of un- 
reasonable men. At that city my companion left 
me, and returned towards the north ; and after I 
had visited Friends and the brethren there, I went 
into the country, and had very good service for the 
Lord ; and in a short time after I went to London, 
w T here I was very kindly received by Friends there, 
and we were refreshed together in the Lord. 

Not long after, came several of the brethren to the 
city out of the north and other parts; and the 
mighty power of the Lord God was with us, and 
very much we were exercised, sometimes in steeple- 
houses, and sometimes in the meetings of Sepa- 
ratists : upon one First day I was at two of their 
steeple-houses in the forepart of the day, and at one 
of them I had large liberty to speak ; and in the 
afternoon I was at a meeting of Professors, where 
there were six that spoke one after another; and 
afterwards I had liberty to speak freely among them 



16 THE LIFE OF 

without opposition or contradiction from any of 
them, and afterwards I departed in peace. 

About that time, the word of the Lord grew 
mightily in that city, and many were added to 
the faith ; and many steeple-houses, and most of the 
meetings in the city were visited by some of the 
brethren ; for at one time there were ten or twelve 
of us (the ministering brethren) in the city, most 
of us come out of the north, even plain, honest, 
upright men, such as the Lord was pleased to make 
use of in that day ; and veiy diligent we were in 
his work night and day, labouring faithfully so 
much as in us lay, to exalt his name over all, and 
to make his truth and salvation known even unto 
all. 

Many meetings we had about that time in the 
city, and I began to experience much of the faith- 
fulness of the Lord to me, who furnished me ac- 
cording to necessity, and was pleased to give that 
which was suitable to the condition of the people, 
unto whom I was to communicate it. 

About that time, I met with my dear brother 
John Stubbs, who was also come up to London out 
of the north ; and though at that time we had little 
outward knowledge one of another, yet Providence 
did so order it, that we became companions and 
fellow-travellers together. And it was upon us to 
go into the country, partly towards Uxbridge ; and 
at a certain place within a few miles of Uxbridge, we 
had veiy good service both in the steeple-house, 
and also at a meeting, which was ordered upon our 
coming to that place; and the Lord was with us, in 
whom we were strong, and our word powerful, 
though in our own eye we were weak, and con- 



WILLIAM CATOX. 17 

temptible in the eyes of many. And the priest 
being moved with envy, did stir up the people 
against us, so that through his means we were ap- 
prehended, and carried before a justice; but he 
being a moderate man, reasoned moderately with 
us, and perceiving our innocency, discharged us. 
Afterwards we returned to London again with joy 
and rejoicing, when we saw how the Lord had been 
with us, and how eminently he had appeared, 
(through us weak and contemptible vessels ;) which 
we made known to the brethren at our return, who 
when they understood it, rejoiced with us. 



CHAPTER IV. 



1655. — lie travels with John Stiibbs into Kent; 
they reach Dover, are haled before the Magis- 
trates — Luke Howard, — his boldness in their 
service — They proceed to Hythe and other places ; 
— are cruelly treated at Maidstone. 

We staid some time after this in the city, where 
we had exceeding good service for the Lord ; and 
afterwards it was upon us to go into Kent towards 
Dover, which accordingly we did (upon the 13th 
day of the First month, 1655,) in much weakness 
and fear, we being but young in the truth, and 
hearing of such wise professing men in those parts; 
howbeit in the faith we went on, having confidence 
in God, who had been with us, and who was with 
us. 



18 



THE LIFE OF 



In due time we got to Dover, where we were as 
pilgrims and strangers, not knowing the face of any 
in the town. After we had walked awhile in the 
streets, (being very much pressed and burdened in 
our spirits,) we took up our lodging at an inn or 
ale-house ; where we had been but one night, when 
the mayor came to us, (having heard something of 
such men being in town,) and he examined us : 
it being on a First day in the morning, he would 
have had us secured for that day, but having 
nothing against us, he could not well bring his pur- 
pose to pass. 

After he left us, it was upon me to go to the 

steeple-house, where I had but little liberty to speak 

before I was haled out ; but in the yard I had some 

more liberty to clear my conscience to the people. 

As for my dear companion J. S. he was at the 

same time at the meeting of the Anabaptists (so 

called:) and in the after part of the day, he was at 

the other steeple-house, and I was moved to go up 

to the castle to the meeting of the Independents (so 

called,) so that by that day's service the report of us 

went not only through the town, but also into the 

country, and of the truth which we bore testimony of. 

And shortly after, we had liberty to have a meeting 

in the Baptists' Meeting-place, unto which many 

people resorted ; and the Lord was with us, and 

gave us a mouth and wisdom, not only powerfully 

to declare, but also zealously to contend for the 

everlasting truth, which was then much opposed 

and gainsayed both by professors and profane : 

howbeit, some began to adhere unto it, and to be 

affected with it, and then did the enmity begin to 

work in the hearts of the people against us : and we 



WILLIAM CATON. 19 

Were haled before the magistrates, who examined 
us, and did use much means to get the town cleared 
of us, and therefore ordered that none should enter- 
tain us upon a certain penalty ; whereupon we were 
turned out of our lodging. But the Lord raised up 
xme Luke Howard, (a shoemaker,) who was become 
so loving to us, and so bold and valiant, that he 
undertook to entertain us in his house, (notwith- 
standing their order; where we abode several days, 
and had afterwards a meeting or meetings in his 
house; and several at that time came to be con- 
vinced of the truth, whom we commended to the 
£race of God and left them.* 



c? 



* [The following account is given by Luke Howard in 
his Journal, of his first meeting with William Cat on, and 
of his visit to Dover. After describing the bewildered state 
of his own mind, and that he could find no trodden path, 
and no man to lead him out of the wilderness, Luke Howard 
informs us, he went up to London in 1654-5 ; and on a First 
day he went to hear " one Cardwell, in Lombard-street ; 
and when he had done, there stood up a young man newly 
come out of the north country, his name was William 
Caton ; who sounded an alarm out of Zion, and proclaimed 
the Gospel of peace : but at that time it seemed to me 
like the priest's preaching ; my mind then being more 
abroad after visible things, than within after invisible : 
which made me say to my companion, ' come, let us begone 
to dinner,' (not staying till he had done ;) c for I know as 
much as he can tell me, or more than I or he either can 
live in ;' thus making myself a judge of his life and doc- 
trine, which I knew not : and so I turned my back upon 
the truth, as too many do. The after part of the day we 
spent our time in walking in the fields ; and the week fol- 
lowing I got home. The next First day afterwards, one 
meets me in the street, and tells me there was a Quaker 
preaching in the churchyard, who was the same aforemen- 
tioned William Caton. At which I immediately went to see 
what manner of man that Quaker was : and when I saw him, 
my heart smote within me, and I was more reached with his 
bare person in Dover, than with his person and words too 
c2 



20 THE LIFE OF 

{The following letter copied from the original, found 
in a valuable private collection of letters formerly from 
Swarthmore, may be also interesting to the reader. 

" John Stubbs and W. Caton to F. H. & E. B. 
(Howgil and Burrough.) 

" Dear hearts, Francis and Edward, 

" We came into Dover npon the Seventh day in the 
last week, being the market-day, towards night, and 
passed to and again through the streets and in the market- 
place, though we had nothing given us to speak there ; 
then at night we took up a chamber, and we were known 
to no man by face. The next morning the mayor and 

in London. And I was made a safeguard to him from the 
boys and rude spirits that offered him abuse. And when 
heliad borne his testimony, he passed away. I then took 
notice where he went in, and at night, Xicodemus like, I 
went to see him : I was lothe to go in the day, and would 
fain have got company to have gone with me, but could 
not, so I went alone ; and then met with him and his dear 
companion John Stubbs, who had been at the other stee- 
ple-house. — I believe the Lord stirred me in my mind to 
go to see them. I found them eating a little bread with 
beer, without anything to sweeten or relish it. So I asked 
them to go out with me ; and we went to a professors 
(Baptist,) who conversed with them much, and agreed to 
have a meeting the next day in the Baptist's meeting- 
house, which was performed. — [After which] many fol- 
lowed them to their inn, as wonderers and gazers, and 
some to oppose. Then the rulers of the town sent to the 
innkeeper to turn them out of his house, or else they would 
pluck down his sign. So the innkeeper spoke to me, be- 
cause he saw that I took most their parts, and desired me 
1 them, which I did: but I also said to John and 
William, ( go home to my house, for I care not for 
rulers nor mayor either.' So they went with me, and the 
fifth day following we had a great meeting at my house : 
and their testimony was to me as John the Baptist's wa< 
to Herod, who heard him gladly, and as Paul's was to 
Agrippa, who was almost persuaded to be a Christian : for 
I was convinced in my judgment, and their testimony waa 
to me as a p'easant song : so the meeting ended, and all 
passed away in quiet." — He then describes his refusing to 



WILLIAM CATON. 21 

some of his attendants came to our lodging, and examined 
us from whence we came, &c. — he was much troubled 
that we did not bow to him, and [said] we should be 
secured as vagrants. Then we were had before a captain, 
who is one of the separate teachers ; he with this mayor 
was very exact in examining of us severally ; — they asked 
us for letters, — we had papers, — they saw them, and gave 
us them again. We had our liberty with a charge from 
the mayor that we should be of good behaviour. After 
our departure from them, one of us went in the forenoon 
to a steeple-house, and the other to a Baptist meeting. 
William was pulled down in the steeple though with 
little violence, but had his liberty to speak in the yard. 
I had as much liberty amongst the Baptists as I could 
desire ; I saw a seed amongst them : a few words were 
spoken ; — great was the power that spoke. In the after- 
noon, William went to the castle where the garrison is, 
and there the captain was much opposite, but the soldiers 
were willing to hear. I went to a steeple-house of In- 
dependents : here are many high airy spirits as ever I 
met with, both in the fort and in the town. Oh ! who 
is sufficient to encounter with such a generation ! There 
was a captain in that Baptist-meeting and his wife who 

give up these Friends, when applied to oy the constables 
sent to his house by the mayor, &c. " The next day at my 
house again, we had a good and blessed meeting I may say ; 
in which these words were delivered, viz. — that notwith- 
standing men's profession of religion, the body of death is 
yet standing in them." He then states that the witness 
within was answered, and he became sensible of his own 
dark condition and state of mind ; so that it seemed to 
him to be the Lord's work " to show me myself, and that 
I was but death and darkness, and to empty me thereof ; 
that so he might fill me from his own fulness of grace and 
truth, even the life of Christ Jesus, in whom alone he is 
well pleased. Then did my two friends and fathers in the 
truth pass out of town, and I went two or three miles with 
them ; and they took in writing the names of some towns 
and men along the sea-coast : — and all whose names I gave 
received them ; at which time Samuel Fisher was one. 
After I left them, my sorrow was great, and my tears 
many ; so that I had much ado to get and keep my eyes 
dry, when I came back to Dover."] 



22 THE LIFE OF 

sent for us to their lodging upon the First day at night, 
and some others were there ; there is a convincement 
upon them both, but especially upon him, he commands 
a castle betwixt this place and Maidstone ; he is a very 
moderate, plain-hearted man ; he was very attentive at 
the meeting when I was there. There come frequently 
from the castle and from the town to our lodging some 
rich and some poor ; — pray that we may be kept in the 
discerning state. This day the post-master told us they 
desired to have a private meeting with us ; there is some- 
thing kindled amongst them ; the man is of a temperate 
spirit, and very hopeful. Another, a shoemaker, one 
Howard, who hath been a Baptist (and his wife,) as he 
says this ten or eleven years, but hath no rest, — he is 
clearly convinced. A fire is kindled amongst them, 
which cannot suddenly be quenched. They are rich 
and very full, and now they are afraid to come to a loss ; 
we shall endeavour to get a meeting among them, and so 
clear our consciences to them. Let us hear from you as 
shortly as you can, and we would have you to send us 
a dozen of some sorts of books which you think would 
be serviceable, and we shall endeavour to get money 
for them. You may direct them to be left at Luke 
Howard's, the shoemaker, in Dover, to be conveyed to 
us. And the post-master is loving towards us, but we 
are at an inn in the town, where many are free to come 
to see us. So our dear love to all our dear friends with 
you. We remain your brethren, «xc. 

" John Stubbs, Will. Catox. 

"We would have you to show this to G. (doubtless 
George Fox.) 

" Dover, 19th of 1st mo. 1654."] 

(This letter is addre-^ed "For his dearly beloved friends 
Francis HoicgUor Edward Burrouyh, at Justice Hubberfs 
house, in Moorjields, London ." ) 

After that we went thence to a town called Foul- 
stone [Folkestone,] where we were kindly received 
by one Thomas Nichols, his wife and others, — and 
some good meetings we had there ; the priest of the 



WILLIAM CATON. 23 

town and many others being present at some of 
them : and the witness of God was truly reached in 
some, and some were convinced of the truth, and 
received it in the love of it. I was also at their 
steeple-house, but was uncivilly treated there, and 
but suffered to speak little, until I was turned out 
violently by a rude fellow; but some that were 
simple and moderate were troubled thereat. 

When we were pretty clear of that town, we tra- 
velled towards Hythe, and in our way thither we 
went into a castle which stood by the sea-side, 
[Sandgate Castle,] where we were kindly received 
both by the captain and his wife ; there we had 
a meeting or two among the soldiers and others, 
and after that we went to the aforesaid Hythe : and 
it was upon us to go to their public place of wor- 
ship, which we did ; but soon after one of us began 
to speak, we were violently haled out, but pre- 
served through the hand of the Lord, from being 
much harmed by the rude multitude. It was much 
noted, how that he who w T as the most violent 
against us, had afterwards in a short time, some 
remarkable judgment which befel him. 

In that town the Baptists allowed us the use of 
their meeting-room, and at the first were pretty 
moderate and civil to us, but afterwards they be- 
came (or some of them) our great opposers ; how- 
beit some there were in that place who believed 
and received our testimony. 

Then we went from that town further into the 
country, and were at Romney and Lydd, where 
there were many high professors, and among the 
rest one Samuel Fisher, a very eminent and able 
pastor among the Baptists ; and it was upon me to 



24 



THE LIFE OF 



go to the meeting of the Independents, and upon my 
dear brother, to go to the meeting of the Baptists, 
where he had good liberty; the aforesaid S. F. 
had been speaking among them, but (as it ap- 
peared) was so much affected with John's doctrine, 
that after John had done, Samuel began with his 
wisdom to paraphrase upon it with excellency of 
speech, thereby to set it forth in his apprehension 
beyond what John had done : at the meeting where 
I was, they would scarce allow me any liberty to 
clear my conscience among them. After that, we 
had meetings in both places ; and being one time at 
a meeting in the street at Lydd, (for the Friend's 
house would not contain the multitude,) the magis- 
trates, or some of them, sent to the aforesaid Samuel 
Fisher, (who was also present at the meeting,) to 
tell him that we might have the church-door (as 
they called it) opened to go in thither, but we 
refused to accept of it, and chose rather to continue 
our meeting in the street. The aforesaid S. F. be- 
lieves our report with several more in those two 
towns, who were convinced of the truth of God, 
which had not in those parts been declared by any 
Friend before. 

We were also up in the country about Ashford 
and Tenterden, and had great meetings, and strong 
contests with professors, who did much oppose us, 
especially in those two towns ; howbeit some we 
found who were simple and tender-hearted in most 
places where we got meetings. We were also at 
Cranbrook and Staplehurst, where we found a very 
open people, who were very ready to receive, and to 
embrace the everlasting truth, which we freely and 
powerfully (according to our measures received) 



WILLIAM CATON. 25 

administered unto them, in the power and demon- 
stration of the eternal Spirit ; and several large and 
precious meetings w r e had among them, and the 
power and presence of the Lord God were much with 
us, in which we rejoiced together, freely distributing 
of the word of life unto them, which at that time 
dwelt richly and plenteously in our hearts ; and as 
we had received it freely, so we did dispense the 
same freely. For though there were those that 
would have given us both gold and money, which 
some would even have forced upon us, yet we had 
not freedom to receive one penny of them ; for we 
told them it was not theirs but them which were 
sought: and many were convinced and much 
affected with the truth, which with joy and gladness 
they received. And among them, as at other 
places, we sought to settle and establish meetings, 
and to bring those that were convinced to wait upon 
the Lord in silence, in that light of life in them- 
selves, which we turned them unto ; to the end that 
they might enjoy the substance of what they had 
professed. And accordingly meetings came to be 
settled in most of the places before-mentioned, 
which they that were convinced kept up after our 
departure.* 

After that, we were moved to go to a great town 

* [Dover Friends were among the first that set this noble 
example of gathering in the name of Him, who promised 
to be in the midst of them, and who was found to be the 
faithful and true witness unto them. 

" I may also acquaint you a little how things were with 
us in our first convincement and meetings, after we came 
to sit down to wait upon the Lord in silence ; which was 
our practice for some years, except some travelling Friend 
came amongst us. I can truly say, the Lord was our 
teacher, and his presence and power were manifested 



26 THE LIFE OF 

called Maidstone; and it being on a First day of the 
week, we were in the fore part of the day at a meet- 
ing of the people called Baptists in the country ; 
and after we had declared the way of salvation 
among them, we left them and went to the town 
aforesaid. When we came there, it was upon my 
dear brother J. S. to go to their public place of 
worship, and it was upon me to go to the meeting 
of the Independents, which accordingly we did ; 
and John was taken at their steeple-house, and I 
the day following at my inn, and were both sent to 
the House of Correction, (so called,) where we 
were searched, and had our money, and our ink- 
horns, and Bible, &c. taken from us; and after- 
wards we were stripped, and had our necks and 
arms put in the stocks, and in that condition were 
desperately whipped; and afterwards we had irons 
and great clogs of wood laid upon us, and in 
that condition they would have compelled us to 
have wrought, saying, he that would not work 
should not eat, &c. Forasmuch as they had dealt so 
wickedly with us, and that without any just cause, 
neither could they justly charge us with the breach 
of any law, we were not free to consent so far unto 
their cruel wills as to do their work ; and therefore 
did they keep us without victuals for some days, 

amongst us, when no words have been sounded in our 
outward ears : for several of us, and at several times, in 
these meetings, have felt the power of the Lord, that 
hath made our outward bodies tremble as well as our 
hearts : and great fear and reverence took hold of my 
heart ; and the Lord confirmed his truth in me from day 
to day, and answered my doubts, and settled my faith by 
and in his power/' — Luke How u BioM of Wr 

1704, p. 29.] 



WILLIAM CATCN. 



27 



only a little water once a day we had allowed us : 
he that committed us, and was the chief agent in 
cruelty against us, was a noted Presbyterian. And 
though the malefactors that were there, would have 
given us of their bread, yea, the women of the 
house being moved with compassion towards us, 
would have given us something privately, but we 
were not free at that time to accept of either, until 
that they (by whose order provision was kept from 
us,) did give consent that it should be brought in 
to us ; which finally he or they did : many in the 
town began to be offended at their cruelty, which 
they manifested towards us. And when they, who 
sought to bow us to their wills, were made to bow 
by the power of God, we were free to receive 
victuals for our money, and did eat and were 
refreshed.* 

* [The following particulars, in addition to those given 
above, are obtained from some early records of Friends of 
East Kent. 

"William Caton being brought before the magistrate, 
was examined where he dwelt, and how long it was since 
he came from his outward being, and what way he came ; 
with more of the like questions. "William answered, he 
came from London. The magistrate asked what he did 
while he continued in London ? William said, in making 
known the everlasting truth, as he was moved of the Lord ; 
turning people from darkness to the light ; that with the 
light they might see themselves, and be brought to repent- 
ance, &c. Then the magistrate told him, he had a master 
for him, and that he should be set on work, and be bound 
unto him for so much a year, &c. But William refused to 
be bound to man, or to be in bondage to any ; saying, he 
was in the work and service of the Lord, and could not go 
out of the Lord's service to be a slave to man." 

This early record then describes their cruel treatment in 
nearly similar terms as in the journal above, though some- 
times more minutely. After being sent out of the town, they 
passed into the hands of many constables, (W. C. being 
separated from his friend ;) the account then states, that 



28 THE LIFE OF 

The next day following, (after their cruelty 
seemed to be abated,) they sent. an officer, who did 
make restitution of some of our things' again 
which they had taken from us, but burned several 
good wholesome papers and letters ; afterwards they 
parted us, and with officers conveyed us out of the 
town, one at the one end of it, and the other at the 
other, which was no small trial to us to be so 
separated. Afterwards we were conveyed from one 
officer to another in the country, and in that man- 
ner sent towards our habitations in the north : but 
when I had been in the hands of about twelve of 
them, they began to grow careless of their order, 
and finally suffered me to travel alone, which 
accordingly I did towards London. 

The day following I got well up to London, where 
I was more than a little refreshed with the brethren ; 
and there I met with my dear companion J. S. again 
to our great refreshment. And behold it came pre- 
sently upon us to return to the town of Maidstone 
again, and into that country, which was no small 
trial to us ; however to the will of the Lord wc 
gave up, and returned again within two or three 

these officers began to grow careless of their order ; and at 
length left them in the highways, — their heavenly images 
and sober lives and words preached so much to them, that 
they finally suffered them to travel alone whither they 
pleased. The record continues to give account of their 
returning to Maidstone, &c, and adds, before they got to 
Dover again, the report of their wicked usage at Maidstone 
came to the ears of the mayor of Dover ; who meeting with 
Luke Howard, said, 6 Luke, I hear your friends have been 
at Maidstone, and been whipped : we did not deal with 
them so badly here.' ' No,' said L. H. 'but you dealt with 
them worse than you should.' So in a little time came 
William Caton and J. Stubbfl again to Dover, where they, 
with Friends, enjoyed their meetings peaceably : many 
being convinced." — MS. ofFriend$ ofEoii Kurt. 









WILLIAM CAT0N. 29 

days. When our grand persecutor at Maidstone 
heard of our return again, he sent a hue and cry 
after us, and it being gotten eight miles into the 
country, the officer came into a Friend's house where 
we had lodged, but were then at another place ; 
and it being on a First day in the morning we went 
to their steeple-house, but the officer was not then 
there ; so Providence did so order it, at that time we 
were preserved out of their hands. Afterwards we 
passed through the country, visiting the brethren 
that had received the Gospel, who were confirmed in 
the faith, and the more so through our patient suf- 
fering. We were also at Canterbury where w 7 e had 
exceeding good service, especially among the Bap- 
tists and Independents so called; for we were at 
their meetings, and had pretty good liberty to 
declare the truth of God amongst them, and some 
there were that received our testimony in that place 
also, who were convinced of the truth, so that there 
came to be a meeting settled there. We were like- 
wise at Sandwich where I had some service in par- 
ticular among the Dutch people at their steeple- 
house, but at that time the truth could get but little 
entrance in that place. 



30 



THE LIFE OF 



CHAPTER V. 

1655. — He visits Calais in France — returns to 
Dover — Travels to Yarmouth, and afterwards 

into the North — With John Stubbs sails to Hol- 
land ; their labours in that country — returns to 
England, 

Upon the 12th of the Fourth month, 1655, it was 
upon me to go over to Calais in France, which 
accordingly I did from Dover. When I came 
there, and saw the place so much given to idolatry, 
my spirit was very much burthened and pressed 
within me : and in the power of the Lord I went 
to their high place of worship, where some were 
worshipping before their dumb idols : and I walked 
through by them, but could not well ease myself 
with words to them, because they could not under- 
stand me, neither could I then understand their 
lan£ua£e ; but the Lord afterwards made wav for 
me to ease my spirit, and to clear my conscience 
among some of them. For after I had been some 
little time in the place, it came to be known to some 
of the chief of the city, who desired to see me, and 
to speak with me, and some of them came down in 
person to the quay to look for me, and understand- 
ing I was aboard, I was called ashore, and was 
afterwards conveyed through private places, for 
fear of the rude multitude, (as he told me that was 
appointed to convey me,) to a great house, where 
several of the great ones were gathered together, to 
see me, hear me, and to speak with mc; so that I 



: 



WILLIAM CATON. 31 

had a very gallant opportunity to declare the truth 
among them. And a certain Scotch lord (so called) 
was the interpreter; and precious dominion the 
Lord was pleased to give me over their vain lights, 
frothy minds and spirits, which were very much 
addicted to lightness and vanity. When I had had 
this opportunity to clear my conscience among 
them, they suffered me to depart in peace. And 
soon after I was clear, and free to return again for 
England, which I did, and found my dear com- 
panion J. S. at Dover. 

About that time it was upon John Stubbs to go 
to Holland, and I w r as made very free in the Lord 
to accompany him; however some good service we 
had afterwards in the country, in our return towards 
Gravesend; and from thence we went to Colchester, 
and so to Yarmouth in Norfolk. And indeed as to 
the outward we were poor and feeble, yet full of 
power and strong in the Lord, and were very provi- 
dent and sparing in our expenses, of which I could 
say more than here I am free to insert ; yet never- 
theless the Lord did enable us to travel day after 
day, and many a mile upon a day, notwithstanding 
our keeping of our bodies so much under. Neither 
did we in those days want for money, of which we 
might have had plenty given us; but our hearts 
being clear and free from coveting of that, (as the 
Lord well knows,) w r e kept ourselves therefore 
clear and free of it ; for as w r e had received freely, 
so we were as willing to give freely, and that little 
which we had, the Lord did sanctify and bless to 
us, and our reward we had always with us, in what- 
soever place or condition we were. 

After we came to Yarmouth, we waited there 
and in the country thereabouts the most part of 



32 THE LIFE OF 

three weeks for a passage for Holland ; and finally 
an opportunity of a ship seemed to present, as also 
of wind ; so we got aboard (though not without 
some difficulty) in the roads: but presently after 
the master came aboard, and perceiving what we 
were, he would not carry us, but forced us ashore 
again ; which disappointment (after we had waited 
so long) was no small trial to us. When we saw 
there was little likelihood of our getting passage 
from thence for Holland, we determined to go for 
the north ; and after we had waited some time 
longer there, we got passage for Sunderland, having 
no small weight upon us, which was the heavier, 
because it was reported in the nation among Friends, 
that we were gone over-sea. 

When we came into the north, I had much desire 
in me to go to see my dear and near relations in the 
Lord at Swarthmore and thereabouts, and Provi- 
dence did so order it that I had an opportunity. 
Oh ! the refreshment which we had at our meeting 
and during the time I staid among them, it would 
be hard for me to declare it to the utmost : and 
dear M. F. (who had been as a tender-hearted 
nursing mother unto me,) was refreshed to hear 
how the Lord had been with me, how he had 
blessed my labours, and prospered his work in my 
hand ; for all which mercies, too*ether with many 
more, we returned unto the Lord his praise, his 
due, and with joyful hearts offered unto him the 
sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. 

When I had staid some little time there (in 
which I was refreshed both in soul and body,) it 
was upon me to return again, to endeavour to accom- 
plish the aforesaid intended journey to Holland ; 
and when the time of my departure was come, I 



WILLIAM CATON. 33 

took my leave of them with much brokenness of 
heart, in which I also left them ; and visiting other 
Friends, I returned again into the bishoprick, where 
I had left my dear companion. Afterwards we had 
some precious meetings in those parts, (which 
together with those w r e had had before) were of 
no small service : and being pretty clear of those 
parts, we sought again to find out an opportunity for 
Holland. 

Coming to the Shields, we heard of a ship that 
was intended for Flanders, which, though it was in 
the King of Spain's dominions, and pretty wide 
from Holland, yet we were willing to go along with 
her, hoping to get passage from thence ; so going 
aboard of the aforesaid ship, we got finally through 
mercy to Yarmouth Roads again, where we found 
another ship that was intended for Flushing in 
Zealand, which being nearer unto Holland than 
Flanders, we embarked in her ; and in due time, 
through the mercy of the Lord, we arrived well at 
Flushing ; where we came among a people of a 
strange language, among whom we had been but a 
little time, when our spirits were stirred within us by 
the power of the Lord; through which we were 
moved to proclaim his mighty day, and to publish 
his eternal truth, in and through their streets, whe- 
ther they could understand or no ; which we did, 
and his power and presence were with us. At that 
time no man laid hands upon us ; so after we had 
unburthened our spirits, by easing them of the 
weight that was upon them, through obeying the 
Lord, we returned to our lodging again. 

When the First day of the week came, it was 
upon us to go to the congregation of the English and 
Scotch, which accordingly we did ) and when we 

D 



34 THE LIFE OF 

came there, many gazed upon us and wondered at 
us, because of our non-conformity to them. But 
after we began to speak, they were much stirred, 
some with fury and rage, and others with admira- 
tion ; but withal, they would not suffer us to speak 
much, but hurried us out with great indignation, 
and some violence was offered to us : howbeit the 
Lord preserved us, so that we received but little 
harm from them, — blessed be his name for ever- 
more ! 

The same day we went to another great city 
called Middleburgh, and got thither before their 
afternoon's devotion was ended. When we came 
there, it was upon us to go to the meeting-place 
where the English and Scotch did meet, where we 
waited until the priest had done; afterwards one of 
us began to speak, but the priest would not suffer 
us, imagining at the first, (before he understood us 
well,) that we had come a begging to the congre- 
gation : but when he perceived the contrary, he 
and others were so much the more against us, and 
some especially were very violent, and did beat me 
much ; and indeed had not the Lord been with us, 
and preserved us through his mighty power, they 
might have done us much mischief; but blessed be 
the Lord, he was our keeper and preserver. 

After that, the priest sent for us to his house, and 
reasoned awhile with us; but he was of such a lofty 
and ambitious spirit, (as many of that generation 
are,) that the truth could have little entrance in 
him, or entertainment from him. After we had 
had other good service in the city, and were become 
pretty clear of it, we embarked for Rotterdam in 
Holland ; where, after some difficulty and hard- 
ship sustained, we arrived through the mercy of the 



WILLIAM CATON. 35 

Lord ; but did not know the face of any in that 
city. When we had been some few days in the city, it 
was known to several, and after some time we got a 
meeting at an English merchant's house, unto which 
many merchants (especially) came, both Dutch and 
English : but oh ! how did we suffer for want of a 
good interpreter ; for he that interpreted for us not 
being true and faithful, as to interpret our words 
according as we spoke them, but sometimes other- 
wise, the hearers or some of them especially, came 
rather to be incensed against us, than to be won or 
gained to the truth 5 howbeit, the witness of God 
in some, answered to the truth of our testimony. 
But forasmuch as there had been no Friend before 
to declare the truth among them in that city, it was 
looked upon as so much the stranger thing, and we 
were so much the more wondered at 5 but in due 
time, when we had cleared our consciences, and 
borne a faithful testimony unto Grod's truth in that 
place, we departed thence and returned again for 
Zealand, where we took shipping for England. 

After we had waited some time for the wind, we had 
an opportunity of sailing, but met with a very sore 
storm at sea ; howbeit the Lord preserved us, and 
we got well to Burlington (Bridlington), in York- 
shire, but were not permitted to go into the town, 
because we were come from Holland, where (it was 
said) the sickness then was \ nevertheless we saw our 
Friends, and were refreshed in seeing one another. 
Soon after we set sail again, and when we came 
near Hartlepool (the wind blowing very hard) we 
lost our foremast, and were in some apparent danger ; 
but the Lord was pleased to preserve us then also, 
and to assuage the violence of the boisterous waves 
through his mighty power, in which we put our 
d2 



36 THE LIFE OF 

confidence. And when through mercy we were 
gotten well ashore, we went up into the country 
among Friends, with whom we were more than a 
little refreshed in the Lord. And after I had had 
several meetings in the bishoprick [ Durham], I went 
again into Lancashire, and coming to Swarthmore, 
I was received with joy again in the Lord, in whom 
our refreshment was very great, and a very precious 
time we had afterwards together, whereby my very 
life was much revived ; and therefore did my soul 
magnify the Lord, with the rest of his lambs and 
babes in that place. 



CHAPTER VI. 



1655. — Visits Scotland, passing through Nor* 

thnnberJand — Mas good service for the Lord at 
Edinburgh and Glasgow — Returns to Sivarth- 
morc, and proceeds to Chesliire. 

It was not long after this, that I took my leave of 
that blessed family, for I was to go for Scotland, 
towards which nation we had felt some drawings, 
before we were clear of that service beyond the sea. 
Having taking my leave in abundance of love of 
mv dearly beloved friends at Swarthmore, I went 
through Westmorland, and had some good meetings 
among Friends there, which at that time was of good 
service. Upon the 12th of the Ninth month, 1655. 
I went towards the bishoprick, in order to my going 
into Scotland ; and when I came into the bishop- 
rick, I met with my dear companion John Stubbs 
again; and when we had visited the brethren 



WILLIAM CATON. 37 

Friends in those parts, and had been truly refreshed 
together in the Lord, we went afterwards into 
Northumberland ; in some parts of which we had 
very good service, especially in the country about 
Morpasse [Morpeth ?] 

About the beginning of the Tenth month, 1655, 
we were at Berwick ; and upon the market day, 
it was upon us to go into their market, where we 
had some good service. And upon the First day 
following, I w T as moved to go into their great 
assembly, where none of our Friends had been, but 
such as had been imprisoned and afterwards put 
out of the town. Nevertheless, I was not there- 
fore to be discouraged, but went in boldly in the 
name and power of the Lord; and when the 
priest had done, I stood up upon a stall, but none 
seemed to make such haste to get away as the priest ; 
however, my mouth was opened in much power, 
and the Lord was pleased to give me much courage 
and boldness, and indifferent good liberty I had 
to declare the truth. When I had done, the 
mayor met me at the door, and took me by the 
hand, and delivered me to the sergeants ; but after- 
wards I was brought before the mayor and magis- 
trates, and further examined by them, who finally 
ordered that I should be turned out of the town, 
which also came to pass. In the afternoon I was 
at a steeple-house in the country, where I spoke to 
the priest ; but he was furious, and called me mad- 
many and bid the people have me to the stocks, 
and bind me hand and foot, with more such like 
expressions; but none of the people would obey 
him, but gathered pretty generally about me, and 
were pretty willing to hear the truth declared, 



38 THE LIFE OF 

though they were a sottish ignorant people. After- 
wards I could not well get any lodging among 
them for my money; and in the interim when I 
was wandering up and down, as being destitute of a 
place to lay my head, or to rest and refresh myself 
in, there came a man out of Berwick to me, and 
I went along with him ; and the guard suffered me 
to pass veiy freely into the town again, where I 
met with my dear companion John Stubbs again, 
who had also been in great service that day, in the 
forenoon among the Baptists, and in the afternoon 
of that day he did supply the meeting which we 
had appointed ; so that day we had exceeding 
good service, and staid afterwards some few days 
in that town, and had another meeting or two there. 

Afterwards we travelled from thence into Scot- 
land, towards Edinburgh ; and though our travails 
were great, and our sufferings many, (both in the 
inward and outward man,) yet the Lord by his 
mighty power supported us, and carried us through 
them all : and that which made them the easier to 
us, and made us the more capable to dispense with 
them, was the extraordinary love and unity in 
which the Lord preserved us ^ insomuch that I do 
believe scarce any of the brethren, that travelled 
abroad upon the same honourable account, ever 
agreed better than we did, or were more mutual in 
their service, and in other things incident to travel- 
lers, than we ; and therefore were our travels and 
sufferings so much the more easy to us, through 
him that blessed us, and with the right hand of his 
righteousness supported us ; — to whom be glory, 
honour and dominion for ever and ever ! 

When we came at Edinburgh, we found things 



WILLIAM CAT0N. 39 

somewhat out of order there, through the unfaith- 
fulness of some that were convinced of the truth, 
but who did not order their conversation aright, 
neither did they live as became the Gospel ; 
which we endeavoured to rectify among them, as 
much as w T as possible ; and the word of the Lord 
was effectual through us among them, to the bring- 
ing of them into better order. 

After we had been some time together in that 
city, it was upon my dear brother to go to some 
other places, as to Burnt Island, to Ayr, &c, and 
afterwards to return to England again : so we 
parted in the fulness of endeared love, with much 
brokenness of heart. After we parted I staid 
several weeks in that city, [Edinburgh,] being ac- 
companied by another dear brother John Slee by 
name : and many gallant meetings we had in the 
city, especially upon the Castle-hill, where many 
hundreds heard the truth of God in much power 
and plainness ; and often was the witness of God 
reached in many, and many were made to confess 
unto the truth ; so that extraordinary good service 
we had for the Lord : for we did not only keep our 
meetings upon the aforesaid public place, but also 
we often had meetings at one William Osborne's, 
who formerly had been a Lieutenant-Colonel, but 
was then become very zealous for the Lord's truth. 
And upon one time especially, it was upon me to 
go to their high place of worship (the chiefest in the 
city,) which accordingly I did ; and after the priest 
had done, I spoke to the people, but was not suffered 
to speak much, until I was carried out with the press 
of the multitude, which was indeed extraordinary 
great. And when I came out in the street, there 



40 THE LIFE OF 

was a guard of soldiers set in readiness to secure 
me from the multitude, and to conduct me to the 
place where I desired to be, which they did with 
their drawn swords ; and after that I went in peace 
to the meeting of Friends. 

J was also about that time with General Monk, 
(so called,) who was seemingly moderate, and did 
hear me, and received such papers from me as I 
had to deliver to him. 

I was also at Stirling; and at mv going into the eitv, 
was carried to the main guard, and from thence I 
was sent to the governor, who at first was high with 
me ; but when I had spoke a little to him, and had 
given him something to read he became more 
moderate : and I went from his house to the 
English chaplain's house, who was very moderate 
and kind in his way towards me. After I had had 
good service among them, I went to Glasgow, ano- 
ther great city ; and it was upon me to go to their 
great cathedral, where three congregations did 
meet at once : and after they had all done, I had 
some liberty to speak to the multitude in the yard, 
for the rude people were kept very much under by 
the English soldiers, who were pretty moderate 
towards me, so that very good service I had at 
that time in that city. 

I was at another place called Douglas, where I 
had exceeding good service, both in the steeple- 
house and elsewhere ; but the priest caused me to 
be turned out of my lodging, and did what he 
could to hinder me from having any entertainment 
in the town ; but some that lived a little from the 
town, were willing to receive me into their house. 

Thus after I had had such exceeding good ser- 



WILLIAM CATON. 41 

vice both in the city of Edinburgh, and at the 
places aforementioned, I was pretty free to return 
again to England, which accordingly I did. 

When I came back into England, I visited Friends 
in my return both in Northumberland and in the 
bishoprick [Durham], and had some good service 
among them, especially in the bishoprick ; and after- 
wards I visited Friends again in Westmorland, and 
in due time got well back to Swarthmore, where I 
was received as formerly, even in the fulness of 
dear and precious love ; and I found the power and 
the presence of the Lord with them as formerly, 
and therefore was our refreshment together again as 
it was wont to be. And I could truly say, it was 
good to be there : but the Lord having much service 
for me abroad elsewhere, I could not stay long 
there, before I was constrained to travel again in 
the work and service of the Lord. For about the 
middle of the First month, anno 1656, it was upon 
me, and another dear brother, William Simpson, 
to go down into Lancashire and Cheshire, &c. to 
visit Friends, which accordingly we did ; and many 
precious and serviceable meetings we had, and the 
Lord's heavenly power and presence was much with 
us, and very good service we had both at Warring- 
ton and Manchester; and I was at the great 
Independent congregation at Stopard [Stockport?] 
but Eaton their great pastor caused them presently to 
take me away, so that I had very little liberty among 
them. Afterwards I went to the meeting at Man- 
chester, and my companion was moved to go to the 
steeple-house, but had little liberty to speak, for he 
was taken thence, and w r as turned out of the town, 
as he had been twice the day before : but that night 
he came in again, and we had a good meeting in 






42 THE LIFE OF 

the town, as I had had the night before at Stopard. 
And the next day many people followed us, through 
William's speaking at the end of the town, and 
there I had a favourable opportunity to declare 
God's truth amon^ them and to them; which they 
heard with pretty much moderation and attention. 
Upon the Third day following, we had a meeting at 
a place called Sunderland, and upon the Fourth 
day another meeting four miles from thence, and 
upon the First clay, we had a good general meeting 
within four miles off Northwich ; yea, night and 
day we laboured in the work and vineyard of our 
heavenly Father, and our reward was with us. 

But it happened that we were put in prison at a 
place called Congleton in Cheshire ; we remained 
there in prison some few days, when Providence 
did so order it, that we were again released. Time 
would fail me to relate particularly the extraordi- 
nary good service which we had at that time in 
Cheshire, Lancashire, and at Leek in Stafford- 
shire ; sometimes in steeple-houses, sometimes in 
streets and markets, and night and day frequently 
in meetings. And in due time we were made free in 
the Lord to return again, after we had spent seveial 
weeks as aforesaid ; and always when I returned 
unto Swarthmore, it was to me a place of refresh- 
ment. 



WILLIAM CATON. 43 



CHAPTER VII. 

1656. — Attends a general meeting in Leicestershire — 
Again visits Scotland; has good meetings at Edin- 
burgh, Leith, Stirling , cj?c. — Returns to Swarth- 
morej and proceeds to Bristol and into Cornwall — 
Visits George Fox in Launceston gaol. 

About this time (as I remember) I took a journey 
into Leicestershire to a great general meeting which 
was appointed, unto which many of the brethren 
resorted, and among the rest there was dear G. F. 
whom I much desired to see : and a very gallant 
and precious meeting it was; and afterwards I 
had some precious time with the brethren, and took 
my leave of them, and returned again into Lanca- 
shire. But I had not been long there, when it was 
upon me to go into Cumberland and Scotland 
again ; whereupon I took my leave of Friends in 
those parts, and went towards Cumberland : and 
on the 4th day of the Third month, 1656, I was at 
a meeting at Ambleside close by the chapel, and 
several of the people were with us after the priest 
had done. In the afternoon I was moved to go 
into the chapel among them, but they were exceed- 
ing violent against me, and seemed to thirst much 
after my blood, for they fell upon me, as if they 
would have torn me to pieces ; but their power was 
limited, and I was preserved in the arms of the 
Lord, and indued with much courage and bold- 
ness to declare the everlasting; truth among them. 
Afterwards I went into Cumberland, where I 



43: THE LIFE OF 

had several good and precious meetings among 
Friends, to the confirming of them in the truth, and 
to my great refreshment in the Lord. And when I 
had visited Friends in that county, I took my leave 
of them, and went from thence to Scotland again, 
being accompanied by a dear brother called John 
Grave. We travelled towards Douglas, where we 
visited the few Friends that were convinced, and had 
a meeting in the steeple-house yard, where many 
heard the truth declared in the power and demon- 
stration of the Spirit, especially in the priest's 
absence ; but when he was at his devotion many of 
them left us. In the steeple-house, when the priest 
was catechising his hearers, and sometimes when 
they could not answer him, I was ready to reply, 
and I gave him some queries to answer : and some- 
times he said he would answer them, and sometimes 
he said he would not ; but finally he broke out into 
a very great rage and passion, and caused the people 
to turn me out of my lodging ; and it is possible he 
would have done much more, if he had had power 
in his hand. 

We travelled from thence to Edinburgh, where 
we had several good meetings, as also at Leith, and 
that openly in the street ; many resorted to them, 
both of the English that were in that country, and 
also of the natives: so that many precious oppor- 
tunities we had of declarino; the everlasting truth of 
God freely and powerfully among them. About 
that time I was not well in body, having oppressed 
it with sore travel ; howbeit the Lord was pleased 
to restore me again in a pretty short time, even for 
the service sake. 

When we were pretty clear of Edinburgh and 
Leith, we travelled towards Stirling City ; but 



WILLIAM CATON. 45 

when we came there, the people were so incensed 
against us, that we had very much to do, to get 
lodging for our money, which finally some soldiers 
procured for us. And when the First day of the 
week came, it was upon us to go to their great 
steeple-house, which accordingly we did; and being 
there at the very time when the priest was going 
about to swear some of them upon some occasion, I 
was moved to speak, and tell them how that Christ 
(the head of the church) said, "swear not at all;" but 
little more would they suffer us to speak in that 
place. Afterwards we were carried before the 
governor, who was pretty high against us, and 
would even have forced us out of the city ; how- 
beit he was then prevented, for the Lord had a 
very considerable service for us in the afterpart of 
the day, for we had appointed a meeting upon a 
certain green, near the steeple-house, unto which a 
great concourse of people resorted ; and a very pre- 
cious and serviceable meeting we had, — for the 
Lord was pleased to give us his word plentifully to 
communicate to the people freely and powerfully, 
and his presence was vtith. us, and his living witness 
was reached in many, which testified unto the truth 
of what we declared ; and little further opposition 
did we meet withal at that time. Yet some of the 
people were so envious, and others fearful, that 
many of them durst not entertain us ; neither could 
we well get lodging in the city that night ; so that 
we went out into the country, and not without 
difficulty could we get lodging there ; for the Scots 
were prejudiced against the English, they looking 
upon us as if w r e had been some straggling soldiers, 
were therefore the more afraid of us; yet Providence 
did so order it, that we got well through the 



46 THE LIFE OF 

country to Glasgow. When we came there, we 
found the governor (one Colonel Ashfield) a very 
moderate man ; and he sent for me to his house, 
and reasoned very moderately with me, as also his 
wife, (who is since convinced of the truth, and he 
very loving to Friends ;) his chaplain was also 
friendly to us. And when the First day of the 
week came, it was upon us to go to one of their 
steeple-houses, which accordingly we did : and when 
the priest had done, I began to speak to the people, 
but the drums did beat, whereby the soldiers were 
called away ; and as for the Scots they could not 
endure sound doctrine, but turned away their ears 
from hearing the truth. At this city I was carried 
to the main-guard, where I had exceeding good 
service amon^ the soldiers, who were very civil 
towards me, and in due time they suffered me to 
depart in peace to my lodging. 

When we had had very good service in that 
city, and were pretty clear and free of it, it was upon 
me to go to another noted place called Ayr, in the 
west of Scotland, and it was upon my dear compa- 
nion John Grave to go to another place, so that 
we parted for a season, which was no small trial to 
us in that dark and barbarous country. In due time 
I got to the aforesaid Ayr; and it was upon me 
to go to the steeple-house there, where I had 
pretty good liberty, there being many soldiers, and 
I was civilly treated among them. 

After I was clear of that place and others, accord- 
ing to the will of God, in due time I set my face 
again towards England, and travelled many a mile 
alone in that barren and rude country : howbeit 
the Lord was with me, and through his mighty 
power I was not only preserved out of the hands of 



WILLIAM CATON. 47 

unreasonable men, but also through his mercy, from 
the sin and evil which abounded among those people; 
for which my soul hath cause to bless and mag- 
nify the name of the Lord, while I have my 
being. 

In due time afterwards I met with my dear 
companion to our mutual refreshment; and then 
with cheerfulness (after we were clear of that country) 
did we return to England again. When we got 
into Cumberland we had yery large and precious 
meetings, eyen as we had had before our going into 
Scotland ; and Friends were strengthened and con- 
firmed in the precious truth, which in those days 
did flourish and prosper yery much; and the Lord's 
power and presence was with us, through which we 
were carried on in his work and service, in which 
our souls delighted to be exercised. 

After I had had such exceeding good service in 
Cumberland, I visited Friends in Westmorland, 
and in due time got well back to Swarthmore 
again, where I was dearly received as in months 
past ; after my great travels, T always found it a 
place of refreshment to me, both for soul and body. 
But there I was not permitted to stay much, there 
being such an effectual door open abroad in the 
country ; and therefore I was constrained, through 
the love of God which dwelt richly in my heart, to 
labour so much the more diligently, — for I knew it 
was good working while it was day. In the in- 
terim when I was at Swarthmore, we had not only 
many precious meetings there, but also several in the 
country thereabouts, near unto the steeple-houses 
and chapels : so that many heard the truth of God 
plentifully declared, both of them that believe and of 
them that perish ; and, indeed, a glorious and pre- 



48 THE LIFE OF 

cious time we had, to make known unto people the 
way of salvation, and what the Lord had done for 
our souls ; many believed and were converted, and 
brought to serve and worship the Lord in spirit 
and in truth. 

But I had not been long in those parts when 
it was upon me to go towards Bristol, and further 
westwards so far as Cornwall ; whereupon I took 
my leave of Friends at Swarthmore in abundance 
of love and tenderness, (in which we were wont to 
meet and to part,) and travelled with a dear com- 
panion, whose name was Walter Clements. Many 
brethren and Friends we visited in our journey to 
their and our comfort; and in due time (through 
mercy) we got well to Bristol, where I was more than 
a little refreshed with Friends, to see how the truth 
prospered among them, and what large and gallant 
meetings there were, both in the city as also in the 
country thereabouts ! And freely was I moved to 
communicate to them of the overflowing of the life 
and power dwelling in me, which tended to the 
comforting of many. After we were refreshed 
together in the Lord I left them, and went on my 
journey westward, (for I was determined to visit 
some of the brethren that were in prison in Laun- 
ceston gaol in Cornwall ;) and several Friends I 
visited as I went, (travelling then mostly alone and 
on foot also :) but the Lord was with me, and through 
his goodness I got well to my journey's end; where 
I was not a little comforted with the brethren. I went 
out also into the country, where I had some very 
good service ; and afterwards returned to the prison 
again, where my refreshment was so much, that my 
cup was even made to overflow, — there being at that 
time dear George Fox and several other Fi i 



WILLIAM CATON. 49 

prisoners there : of whom in clue time I took my 
leave, even in the fulness of endeared love, and 
returned again out of those parts. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



He returns to Bristol, and travels eastward into 
Kent — Remarks on the exercise of his gift — 
Reaches London. 

About the latter end of the Fifth month, or the 
beginning of the Sixth, 1656, I was at Plymouth, 
where I visited Friends ; and after I had had a 
meeting among them, I travelled into the country, 
and being refreshed with Friends in Plymouth as 
also in the country, I came to a place called Totness 
in Devonshire ; where upon my coming into the 
town I was apprehended, and carried before the 
mayor, who threatened to have the whip laid upon 
my back, (though without cause ;) but Providence 
did order it otherwise, for others of the magistrates 
were more moderate ; and when they examined me 
the priest was present, and a very gallant opportu- 
nity I had, to bear a large and faithful testimony 
unto the truth, which accordingly I did ; for indeed 
the Lord was much with me, and it was given me 
in that very hour what I was to speak. That 
night they kept me prisoner, and the next day they 
sent me away with a pass from tithing-man to 
tithing-man, or from constable to constable; and 
thereby I had a fine opportunity to declare the truth 
to the people in the country as I travelled. For 
when I had come into a town, and was in the officer's 



50 THE LIFE OF 

hand, many people that heard of it came out of 
their houses to see the Quaker, as I was called ; and 
some were pretty tender and loving, and others 
were otherwise : however, I freely declared the 
truth among them as I was moved; and in due 
time I was freed from that entanglement by a coun- 
tryman that would trouble himself no further with 
me, but gave me the pass, and let me depart in 
peace. 

Afterwards I got well to Taunton in Somerset- 
shire, where I visited Friends, as elsewhere in the 
aforesaid shire ; and in due time I got well to 
Bristol, where I found several of the brethren, as 
Francis Howgill, John Audland, &c, with whom 
I was more than a little comforted ; for the Lord's 
presence was with us, and his heavenly power was 
amongst us, so that we were not only a refreshment 
one unto another in the Lord, but many were 
refreshed through us, and we all in the Lord, whom 
our souls did magnify and praise. 

And when we had been sweetly refreshed toge 
ther among Friends at Bristol, we went into Wilt- 
shire, and were together at a great general meeting: 
after which we parted in abundance of love and 
unity ; for I was to go into Kent, and they else- 
where. 

And when I came to a place called Basingstoke, 
there did I happily meet with my dear brother and 
former companion, John Stubbs ; and another dear 
brother called William Ames was with him, who 
had been together in Holland ; but they being 
travelling westwards, and I eastward, we had but 
little time together : howbeit, in that little time we 
were together, we were truly comforted one in 
another ; and afterwards, in the ancient brotherly 



WILLIAM CATON. 51 

love, we parted again. And I travelled along my 
journey being much as alone, but indeed the Lord's 
heavenly presence was with me ; and several good 
and precious meetings I had in my journey, to 
mine and Friends' great refreshment in the Lord : 
and finally through mercy I came well into Kent, 
where I went from place to place, and visited such 
(especially) as before had received our testimony. 
Many precious and large meetings I had in the 
county, and the Lord was very much with me, who 
furnished me plenteously with his word and power ; 
insomuch that I stood admiring at sundry times, 
from whence I had that fulness, (and this was not 
only the case with me, but with many more,) who 
looking with the eye of reason upon my earthly 
tabernacle or outward man, could not expect any 
great thing from myself, being then but about 
twenty years of age ; — neither ever had I been in 
much profession, until I was convinced of the truth 
of God ; yet plenty of heavenly things the Lord 
was pleased to open in me and through me, to the 
end that I might communicate the same to the 
multitude, which sometimes being great, I w T as ready 
to say within myself, whence shall I have where- 
withal to satisfy all these ? And when I looked 
out at my own weakness and insufficiency as of my- 
self, I was ready to faint within myself; but when I 
looked only at the Lord, and put my confidence 
entirely in him, I was strong and courageous. For 
the Lord showed me by his eternal light, at a time 
when I was. even bemoaning my own weakness, and 
groaning under the sense of the weight of the ser- 
vice and work of the Lord ; saving or thinking: 
within myself, Oh ! such and such (meaning the 
ablest and w T isest of the brethren) are so and so 
e2 



52 THE LIFE OF 

fitted and furnished, that they need not care what 
service they are called unto, — but as for me, I am 
so simple, — I am so weak, — and I never have any 
thing beforehand, — neither do scarce ever know, 
when I go into a meeting of several hundreds, 
what I shall say, or whether anything or nothing ; 
and even when I was full of those and such like 
reasonings, the Lord showed me (I say,) how they 
that had much had nothing over, and they that had 
little, had no lack ; even as it was with the Israel- 
ites of old. For the brethren that were wise and 
eminent, who had received much from the Lord, 
behold there was so much the more required of 
them : so that of all they had, they had nothing- 
over, but what they were to employ in the work 
and service of God. As for my own part, I, who 
was so little in my own eyes, and so mean and con- 
temptible in the eyes of others, had no cause to 
complain ; for though I was often in the state that 
I knew not what I should say when I went into a 
meeting, yet even in such a meeting, hath the Lord 
been pleased to give me his word so plentifully, 
that through him I was enabled to speak two or 
three, yea, sometimes four hours in a meeting with 
little or no intermission : and often it hath been 
with me, that as I knew not before the meeting what. 
I should speak in the meeting, so neither could I 
well remember after the meeting what I had spoken 
in it ; and yet had plenty and fulness, though I 
was often daily at meetings ; and not only so, but 
in the evenings also ; and the Lord gave a fresh 
supply always out of that good treasury, which 
affords things both new and old. 

Now these things I rehearse not for my own 
praise, but do say, not unto vie, not u 



WILLIAM CATOX. 53 

have nothing but what I have received,) be the 
praise; but unto the Lord alone ; who is the giver 
of every good and perfect gift. And I can truly 
say, that which I received from him, I delivered 
unto his people : and no small favour, love, and 
esteem, I had from them and among them ; so that 
the Lord (whom I faithfully served,) was pleased 
to give me even what my heart and soul desired ; 
and an exceeding glorious day I had of it, and did 
much rejoice in the Lord, notwithstanding my 
great travails and sufferings ; all which, through 
him, were made easy to me ; neither were they 
much to me, with all the perils and dangers I went 
through both by sea and land, in comparison of 
the power and presence of the Almighty, which 
did so sweetly and eminently accompany me in 
those days. 

After I had had exceeding good service in Kent 
and elsewhere in the country where I had travelled, 
I went up to London. 



CHAPTER IX. 



1656. — Sails for Holland — Visits Amsterdam ami 
Rotterdam — Sis service at both places — Is im- 
prisoned at Middleburgh, and conveyed on board 
a ship of war for England — Travels into the 
South of England, returns to London (1656-7) — 
and proceeds again to Holland. 

About the beginning of the Seventh month 1656, 
I being at London, with several of the brethren, 



54 THE LIFE OF 

we had at that time pretty much disturbance in our 
meetings in the city by some troublesome and un- 
ruly spirits, who were gone from the truth into 
extremes ; and though we suffered by them, yet we 
were refreshed together in the Lord, and one in 
another. 

About that time it was upon me to go over for 
Holland, unto which I was given up in the will of 
the Lord. I was then but weak in body, having 
gotten a surfeit through heats and colds in my 
travels, as it was judged; nevertheless I was in 
readiness (though in that weak condition) to take 
the first opportunity ; and very much I desired to 
have had a companion along with me, if Providence 
had so ordered it : howbeit, I went finally alone ; 
and did meet with some wicked and uncivil men in 
the same vessel in which I went over; some of 
whom did in their jollity abuse me: but before we 
got over to Holland, we had a pretty sore storm, 
and as to outward appearance were in pretty much 
clanger. And at that time great was the fear and 
anguish that came upon those that were so wicked : 
and even then did the Lord raise me up, in whom 
my faith and confidence was. It was upon me to 
speak to them in their distress, and then the wit- 
ness of God was near and ready to answer to the 
truth of what I spoke : and the goodness and 
mercy of the Lord to me in that storm was very 
great ; through whose hand we were preserved, and 
finally (through his mercy) brought well to our 
desired haven ; blessed and magnified be his name 
for ever and ever. 

When I landed at Dort, I do not know that I 
could speak three words of their language, and so 
was much pressed in spirit, and sorely laden with the 



WILLIAM CAT0N. 55 

weight of iniquity, which fell upon me ; and seeing 
I wanted an interpreter, therefore was my burthen 
the greater. From Dort I sailed to Rotterdam, 
where I found some few that had heard the truth, and 
who in some measure received it ; howbeit, I staid 
not long there neither, for my drawings were pretty 
much to Amsterdam. And through the good hand 
of the Lord I got finally well thither, where John 
Stubbs and William Ames (my dear brethren) had 
been before with another Friend ; and very good 
service they had had among the professors there : 
some had received their testimony, and the truth in 
the love of it ; and such with gladness and joy of 
heart received me. And the Lord made my service 
effectual among them for the establishing and con- 
firming them in that living truth, which they had 
heard and believed. There were some among 
them that could understand me, and interpret that 
which I spoke to the rest ; so that very good service 
I had among them, for that little time I staid 
among them, which was not long, till it was upon 
me to return to Rotterdam again. In the mean 
time, a young man came over from England, who 
went with me, and could understand both English 
and Dutch ; but when I was at Rotterdam he left 
me for a while ; and in the meantime, I was much 
straitened for want of an interpreter; but there 
being one that could speak some Latin, I spoke 
sometime in that language to him, and he did in- 
terpret it to the rest. But oh ! my sufferings at 
that time w r ere exceeding great in that country, and 
that in divers respects ; and they were augmented 
through some forward and unruly spirits that were 
convinced, but who run out into extremes both in 
words and writing; whereby both the truth, and 



56 THE LIFE OF 

they that lived in it, came to suffer much : for ray 
part. I had fainted through weakness and sufferings, 
had not the Lord by his mighty power upheld and 
preserved me. 

At that time few or none of the priest's proselytes 
came to our meetings, but several high conceited 
professors both at Amsterdam and Rotterdam at- 
tended, and several of them were more apt to take. 
upon them to teach others, than to receive instruc- 
tions themselves. 

I was also at the Jews' Svna£og:ue at Amster- 
dam upon one of their Sabbath day-; and staying 
most of the time of their worship, I beheld the 
manner of it, which was very strange in divers 
respects ; neither would they admit of any dispute 
in their Synagogue ; but after their worship was 
ended, I and another Friend had some pretty good 
service with some of them in one of their hpufi - 
they are a very hard, obstinate, and conceited 
people in their way. When I had staid some time at 
Rotterdam, it was upon me to go to Zealand, which 
accordingly I did, about the latter end of the 
Eighth month 1656, and the aforesaid young man 
went alonn; with me. And when we had been some 
days at Middleburgh, the aforesaid young man 
went to some of their meeting-places in that city, 
and was apprehended ; which I finally understand- 
ing, went to visit him, and they, perceiving that I 
his companion, secured me also. Afterwards 
we were examined very late in the night, and 
after our examination we had three or four soldiers 
to guard us, and a place appointed for us when 
lmVhtlie. But quickly after we were laid down. 
we were called up again in great haste, and were 
carried from thence to the prison, about the eleventh 



WILLIAM CATON. 57 

or twelfth hour at night, and put in two distinct 
places, which caused my sufferings to be the 
greater, and that the more, because I could speak 
little or none of their language. There I remained 
some days, (being weak in body,) but in process of 
time, we were brought before the council, and were 
severally examined, but returned to prison again. 

It seems they ordered (by what followed,) that 
we should be sent for England; for soon after, a 
coach-wagon was brought to the door, to carry us 
to the water- side, and several soldiers were also 
provided to guard us. For the city seemed to be as 
in an uproar, and the rude multitude did rage 
exceedingly, as if they would have torn us to pieces ; 
but the Lord was with us, who was our chief 
keeper, though there were some in the wagon with 
us, and some that went on foot along by the 
wagon. And according to their order, they 
brought us on board of a ship of war, where we 
were kept prisoners, near upon two weeks, being 
confined to an open cold room ; and the men were 
so hard-hearted towards us, that they would not 
allow us so much as a bit of sailcloth to lie under 
us, or above us, thus for the most part of that time 
we lay upon the bare boards in very cold stormy 
weather, so that our sufferings were great both in 
the inward and outward man. 

But oh ! how is the goodness and mercy of the 
Lord to be admired, for even then, and while I 
was in prison, when I was so hardly used, even 
then I say, did my strength grow much, and I 
recovered my health in a great measure again, even 
to my own and others' admiration ; and thereby I 
came to have further experience of the goodness 



58 THE LIFE OF 

and mercy of our God, for which my soul hath 
cause to bless and magnify his name for ever. 

About the middle of the Ninth month 1656, 
through mercy, we got well to England, and about 
the same time came up to London. We had extra- 
ordinary pain in our feet after we came to lie in 
warm beds, having; lain so long in cold weather in 
our stockings and shoes : but meeting with many 
of the brethren there, my refreshment on the 
other hand was great among them, and in that 
good service which I had in the city. 

When I had been about two weeks in the city, it 
was upon me to go down into the country ; and 
when I was travelling alone in Surrey, near 
Riegate, a wicked murderous fellow came out of a 
house, and fell upon me as if he would forthwith 
have murdered me ; but the Lord delivered me out 
of his hands, and afterwards I went to the meeting 
of Friends that day : after that I had exceeding 
good service in Sussex, especially among a people 
that were called Seekers, who were mostly con- 
vinced, not far from Lewes. I was also at Steyning, 
Arundel, Chichester, Portsmouth and Southampton, 
at all which places I had exceeding good service for 
the Lord ; as also at other places both in Hamp- 
shire, Sussex, Surrey, and Kent. And upon that 
day called Shrove-Tuesday, I had a meeting at tin 4 
east side of Sussex, where there had never been 
any Friends before ; and the rude multitude came 
with their drum, marching up to the house, like 
men ready for battle, in a desperate manner, as if 
they would have pulled the house down over our 
heads ; I was moved to go out to them, and asked 
them what they wanted \ they said Quakers ; I 



WILLIAM CATON. 59 

told them I was one. And it was upon me to speak 
in much plainness to them, which I did, and in 
much power ; and presently their countenance fell, 
and fear surprised them, and with shame and con- 
fusion they withdrew, not having power to harm 
any of us, blessed be the Lord ; who in those days 
did eminently appear for us, as often he hath done 
since, therefore have we cause to put our con- 
fidence in him to the end. About that time I had 
much good service for the Lord in those parts, and 
when I was free of the same I returned again to 
London. 

But I had not staid long there, when it was upon 
me to return again for Holland; howbeit some very 
good service I had in London, and in some part of 
Surrey in the interim, before I was perfectly clear 
and ready to take shipping ; for about that time 
there was an effectual door open in and about th« 
city, and many of the brethren were there, and a 
very precious opportunity we had together, to our 
refreshment in the Lord. 

And in due time way was made for my going 
over, accordingly as it was upon me ; and in the 
fulness of dear and precious love, I took my leave 
of Friends and the brethren at London, and through 
mercy I arrived well at Rotterdam; and under- 
standing there that William Ames, a dear brother, 
was at Utrecht, I hastened thither, where I found 
him in good service for the Lord, both to his and 
my refreshment. Entering into discourse with him, 
I understood that he had been in prison at Amster- 
dam with another Friend, and that they were turned 
out of the city, fee. Nevertheless, according as it 
was upon me, I w r ent to the aforesaid Amsterdam, 



60 THE LIFE OF 

though bound in spirit; and came thither about 
the middle of the Second month, 1657. I arrived 
there in a very seasonable and needful time ; for 
Friends being but young, and having had a pretty 
sore storm, were somewhat scattered and scat- 
tering, being discouraged and frightened through 
the indignation and wrath of the magistrates and 
priests, which was somewhat kindled against them : 
I made it my work to gather them together again, 
and to establish them so much as was possible in 
the eternal truth. And besides what they had met 
with from the magistrates, &c, there had been a 
bad instrument among them, who had bred much 
discord and dissension among them ; but through 
the mercy and goodness of the Lord, they came in 
due time to be restored again into faith and con- 
fidence, peace and tranquillity, in which they kept 
their meetings. But as for the professors, they 
were high and conceited, and would scarce believe 
that a greater light was sprung up in any part of 
the world, than what was arisen among them ; 
neither could they well endure to receive instruction 
from such as would not or need not be instructed 
by them. There were also at that time many 
stumbling-blocks laid in the way of the simple, and 
many obstructions the truth met withal in that 
place ; and therefore were my burthens the more, 
and my sufferings the greater ; but the Lord ftf 
with me, and the right hand of his righteousness 
upheld me, — glory be to his holy name for ever and 



[The following valuable epistle from the Swarth- 
more Collection, is dated " Amsterdam, in Holland, 



WILLIAM CATON. 61 

15th of third month, 1657 :" it bears an endorse- 
ment in the handwriting (as the editor believes,) of 
George Fox, thus : " W. Caton to Frends, 1657." 
To all my dearly beloved Friends that be elected of 
God, sanctified through the Word of his grace to be 
vessels of honour, to the praise and glory of his name 
everlasting ; mercy, grace and peace be multiplied 
amongst you, from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, the fountain of love and life, from whom all 
goodness doth come ; who hath distributed of the riches 
of Ins grace unto you, and manifested his living power 
amongst you ; by which he hath quickened some of you 
who were dead in trespasses and sins, and given you a 
sight of the entrance into the eternal inheritance, which 
never fades away : yea, light is sprung up unto you who 
walked in darkness, and upon you who dwelt in the land 
of the shadow of death, hath the light shined ; and your 
understandings hath the Lord opened, and hath given 
you to see that in yourselves, which separated you from 
him ; and some of you are come to distinguish betwixt 
the precious and the vile, betwixt that which entereth 
into God's kingdom, and that which is shut out. And 
so that which once you esteemed highly, which did 
appear beautiful and glorious in your eyes, comes now to 
be accounted dross and dung in comparison of that 
pearl, which some have found, and many are digging for ; 
which is not purchased by all that seek it, because they 
are not willing to part with the whole substance for it. 
But I know that many of you have forsaken much ; and 
yet something remains which must be also offered, (even 
that which would save its life, and would not come to 
judgment,) must be brought to light and tendered, if it 
he as dear unto you as your right eye or right hand ; 
and those I say, who keep nothing back, but are willing 
to part with all for the truth's sake, shall receive an 
hundred fold, and in the life to come life everlasting. 
For I do assure you, that none are ever made losers for 
parting with anything for the Lord, neither need they 
repent thereof ; and that which you lose and have lost 
for the truth, the time is at hand when you shall account- 
it again. And though the world may account you fools, 
because of the loss of your reputation; when your 
honour and dignity comes to be laid in the dust it matters 
not ; for it is better to be reproached by the world, and 



62 THE LIFE OF 

to suffer persecution of the world for righteousness' sake, 
than it is to revile them whom the Lord hath chosen out 
of the world. Therefore eye his mercy to you, that are 
reproached and not reproachers, persecuted and not per- 
secutors ; yea, I say, rejoice that you are accounted 
worthy, not only to believe, but also to suffer for his 
name's sake. Therefore be ye comforted, in the midst of 
your deepest sufferings and tribulations, with the con- 
sideration and hope of the joy and glory that shall be 
revealed unto you, which your present sufferings (which 
are but for a moment ) are not worthy to be compared 
unto. For the night is far spent in which the sorrows 
are ; and the day is at hand when sorrow and sighing 
shall fly away: then shall you that mourn be comforted, 
and receive beauty for ashes, tbe oil of joy for mourn- 
ing, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness ; 
that ye may be called the trees of righteousness, the 
planting of the Lord ; although for the present you be 
in pain and sorrow, groaning to be delivered frorn the 
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the 
children of God. Be patient therefore and hope to the 
end, for he that shall come will come, and will not tarry ; 
whose arm is already stretched out, in winch he carries 
his babes and lambs, who are born again of the incor- 
ruptible seed, nourished and fed with the sincere milk of 
the living word, by which they grow from strength to 
strength. And the Lord will not lay any more upon 
any of them than they are able to bear ; but he 
strengthens the weak, comforts the feeble, binds up the 
broken-hearted, fills the hungry, clothes the naked, 
satisfies the weary and the thirsty soul; whose ever- 
lasting treasury is always full, and his banquetting- 
house ever well stored with durable riches ; where the 
distressed are relieved, and every one's necessity sup- 
plied, that hungers after righteousness. For he is a 
Father to the fatherless, and he increaseth the strength of 
such as have no might : so unto him you may come, as 
unto a living fountain, from whence none are sent empty 
away, who thirst and pant after the Lord. Oh ! 
blessed are all they that come to drink here of this 
fountain of living waters ; their souls shall never thirst 
more : and you, whose souls are thirsting and longing te 
participate of it, you shall be satisfied. For I know 
that no visible created thing can satisfy that which 
longeth to be refreshed with the living streams which 



WILLIAM CATOX. G3 

issue out from this fountain, which watereth and re- 
fresheth the whole city of God, — the streams whereof 
make glad the hearts of the righteous, whose souls come 
therewith to he everlastingly satisfied. So come hither, 
all you that thirst, " come ye to the waters, and he that 
hath no money, come ye, huy and eat, yea, come and 
buy wine and milk without money and without price ;" 
yea, eat, Friends, eat abundantly and be satisfied ; for 
a living fountain hath the Lord set open, for Judah and 
Jeresalem ; and all that are bathed and washed in it 
come to enter into the holy city, which hath no need of 
the sun nor of the moon to shine in it ; — for the glory of 
the Lord God doth enlighten it, and the Lamb is the 
light thereof ; — the gates of which are not shut at all by 
day, for there is no night there ; — neither can anything 
enter into it that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh 
abomination, or maketh a lie ; but they whose names 
are written in the Lamb's book of life. And towards 
this your faces are turned, and your feet are guided into 
the way that leads to it. 

But woe to them that take up their rest by the way, 
and so come short ; they shall inherit sorrow and vexa- 
tion, and trouble shall be their portion ; and with terror 
and great fear shall they inherit their possessions ; and 
poverty and distress shall be their garments, by reason of 
the drought, scarcity, and famine, that shall be in their 
inheritance. But with the righteous and them that fear 
the Lord it shall not be so ; — for the Lord is their shep- 
herd, and they shall not want any good thing; — they 
shall eat in plenty ; — feed in pastures which are green 
and large, and their souls shall delight themselves in 
fatness. There shall no devourer nor venomous beast 
come w r ithin their liberty to make them afraid ; neither 
shall there be scarcity nor desolation in their land ; for 
the dew from heaven shall fall upon it, which shall cause 
it to bring forth more abundantly, by which its increase 
shall be watered and refreshed ; for the Lord hath blessed 
their inheritance, and the curse shall no more come upon 
it, neither shall the unclean enter into it, — but showers 
of mercy shall descend upon it ;— because the Lord hath 
blessed it, — yea, and will bless it, and all their posterity, 
that doth inherit it for ever and ever. 

So, my dear Friends, know the seed of God in your- 
selves, and dwell in the living power of God, which will 
overturn and dispossess that which by violence hath kept 



64 THE LIFE OF 

the seed of God in bondage ; that that which hath led 
captive may go into captivity, and that which hath suf- 
fered violence under the violent oppressor, may come to 
be set free. Then will you see your deliverer come forth 
of Sion, who purchased your redemption, and will 
make you free from that which hath held you in thral- 
dom and bondage : then shall you return unto Sion with 
the ransomed of the Lord, with everlasting joy upon 
your heads, — being made inheritors amongst them that 
are sanctified and crowned with victory. So, the ever- 
lasting powerful God, who is strong and mighty, bless, 
preserve, and keep you ; — that you may multiply, in- 
crease, and prosper, and bring forth some an hundred, 
some sixty, some thirty fold, to the praise and glory of 
our God — to whose custody and protection I commend 
you : his grace and peace be with you for ever and ever, 
amen. Your dear brother in the iiving truth, 

Will. Caton.] 

When I had staid there for the most part of seven 
weeks, I left Friends for a season, having had very 
good service in that place, not only at meetings, or 
the like, but about getting books printed and pub- 
lished, which were of veiy good service in that 
country. 

Afterwards I went with my dear brother William 
Ames through some of the principal cities in Gil- 
derland ; howbeit our movings were especially to a 
place called Zutphen, a city out of which W. A. 
had been banished before : and when we came there 
we went to the meeting-place of the Mennonists, 
(otherwise Baptists ;) but when we would have 
gone in, they bolted the door to us, and would not 
suffer us to enter in arnon^ them : and William 
being pretty well known in the city, the rude mul- 
titude gathered about us ; but to avoid the occasion 
of a tumult, we withdrew out of the streets to the 
walls of the city, and very many people folio wc <l 
us. As we were moved and allowed of God, so wo 



WILLIAM CATOJ*. 65 

spoke in his power, to the making known of his 
eternal truth ; and a very good opportunity we had 
thereunto upon the walls of the city, from which 
we withdrew, when we were free ; howbeit, the 
baser sort of people were veiy rude in throwing 
stones and clods at us; but the Lord did so pre- 
serve us, that we received little harm thereby. In 
the afternoon there came very many people to us 
out of the city to our lodging, where we had also a 
yery good opportunity to declare the everlasting 
truth freely among them, and to disperse many 
books in their own language, which we had brought 
along with us ; and several there were that received 
pretty good satisfaction . My dear companion had pro- 
posed to have staid there some time, but the magis- 
trates being moved with envy, would not suffer the 
people to entertain him ; besides they took it as a 
great presumption in him, that he should dare to 
return again thither, after he was banished from 
thence. Moreover, they threatened that if the 
Baptists came at us they should be served in like 
manner; which threatenings, together with w T hat 
they had done before, did keep the people much in 
fear and slavery, so that they durst not appear to 
vindicate that which they were convinced of. 

After we had such good service there, and in 
those parts, I returned again to Amsterdam, where 
my service consisted much in keeping things in as 
good order as was possible ; and likewise in getting 
books printed and published, and in several other 
respects. 



66 THE LIFE OF 



CHAPTER X. 

1657. — His service in several cities in Holland — 
The love of God to him and Friends there — He 
returns again to England — Attends a general 
meeting in Bedfordshire — Proceeds northward 9 
and reaches Swarthmore. 

In this year (1657) I was at the Hague, the place 
at which the head court is kept for the Seven Pro- 
vinces : but little entrance there was for the truth, 
though some good service I had with some in that 
city. I was also at the city of Dort (when the 
plague was pretty much there,) where I found some 
two or three that were somewhat loving ; howbeit, 
there was also little entertainment for the truth in 
the place, and therefore was my suffering the 
greater. 

I went also sometime to the city of Utretcht to 
visit them that were convinced, where I had now 
and then good service, and pretty fine meetings ; 
but in those days I spoke mostly by an interpreter. 
And when the magistrates and priests came to 
understand how that the truth seemed to get some 
entrance in that place, their enmity began to increase 
against it ; and they gave forth an order, that those 
that entertained us, and had meetings at their 
houses, should from thenceforth neither entertain us, 
nor have any more meetings in their houses, in pain 
of being turned out of the city, or of being arbi- 
trarily punished ; which threatenings did terrify 



WILLIAM CATOX. G7 

some, and caused some to draw back, but not 
all. 

I was also at the city of Ley den, where their 
great university is ; there a Baptist woman received 
me into her house, whose husband w r as a Papist, 
at whose house I was allowed to have a meeting, 
unto which many sorts of people resorted. The 
truth being there a new thing and very strange, 
I met with no small opposition, especially from 
the Papists and Baptists, both which sorts were 
stirred and offended ; and more so, because the 
man and woman of the house came both to be 
convinced. A meeting was in due time settled 
and established in that city, where oftentimes 
(as also in other places) I had good service for 
the Lord and his truth. And most commonly, 
when my service was over in the country, I re- 
turned again to the city of Amsterdam, which was 
a place of great concernment, and where there w T as 
a more constant service than in other parts in that 
country ; in due time there was an addition to 
Friends, and the number of them increased ; their 
meetings were kept in very good order, and for the 
most part were pretty peaceable \ and the goodness 
and mercy of the Lord abounded much to the rem- 
nant that were there gathered. Howbeit, sometimes 
the rude multitude was tumultuous and troublesome 
at our meetings : once especially there were many 
rude people gathered together, who doubtless had 
much wickedness in their hearts, and some of the 
worst of them came into our meeting, and sought 
presently to lay violent hands on me, and to have 
done much mischief to me and others ; but the 
Lord's pow T er prevented them, and preserved me 
f 2 



68 THE LIFE OF 

and Friends, even to our admiration; for I was 
through Providence cast into a house in the pre- 
sence of the rude multitude, who if they had not 
been, as it were, smitten with blindness, and re- 
strained through the power of God, they might have 
executed their fury upon me and the rest ; but he 
that was in us, and by his power preserved us, was 
greater than he that was in them, who in their mad- 
ness would have devoured us at once : but blessed 
1)0 the Lord our God, who very often showed mercy 
unto us, and did very plenteously, at sundry times, 
with his heavenly presence and infinite loving-kind- 
ness, refresh and comfort our souls and spirits ; — 
infinite praises be to his name for ever and ever ! 

When I had spent above a year in the service of 
the Lord in the Low Countries, especially in Hol- 
land, (in which time I had also written two or three 
])Ooks at the least,) I was free in the Lord to return 
for England, which accordingly I did, through 
Zealand ; where I wrote the book called, The 31 ode- 
rate Inquirer, &c. : and in due time I got well to 
London, through the mercy and goodness of the 
Lord, where I found many of the brethren ; and 
several precious meetings we had in and about the 
city, even to our great refreshment ; for about that 
time the truth did multiply, grow, and spread, and 
many were added to the church, and came to receive 
the Gospel. For in those days the Lord endued 
his servants and handmaids with very much power 
and wisdom from above, and they went on in his 
name, preaching the word of life, both in season 
and out of season, not only in the meetings which 
they were moved to appoint, and which Friends 
duly kept, but also in steeple-houses and markets, 



WILLIAM CATON. 09 

in streets and highways, or elsewhere, wheresoever 
or whensoever any was moved of the Lord to pub- 
lish and declare his living truth. 

When I had been some little time in London, I 
went into Surrey to some general meetings there 
near Reigate and Kingston ; where I was more than 
a little refreshed with Friends, and they with me, 
in the power and presence of the Lord God, which 
was often eminently manifested amongst us, to the 
comforting of our souls and spirits. 

At the time called Whitsuntide, in the year 1658, 
there was a general meeting appointed in Bedford- 
shire, at one John Crook's, unto which I went with 
Friends from Kingston, and unto which many 
hundreds of Friends resorted; and some of the 
brethren came from most parts of the nation, and 
great was our refreshment together in the Lord.* 
And when it had continued about two days, there 
came some troopers, who did then apprehend few or 
none, though some were in jeopardy : and afterwards 
we parted, and went every one as he was moved, some 
eastward, and others westward, some northward, 
and others southward : but I and a dear brother 
and former fellow-servant, whose name was Thomas 
Salthouse, went to the north, and visited Friends 
in our journey, and came finally through mercy 
well to Swarthmore in Lancashire (the place of our 
former residence ;) where we were received with joy 
and gladness, and indeed great was our refreshment 
in the Lord, as it was wont to be in that place. 
And divers precious and gallant meetings we had 
there and thereabouts, which tended not only to our 
own refreshment, but to the refreshment of many 

* See G-eorge Fox's Journal for an account of this meet- 
ing, under date 1657-8. 



70 THE LIFE OF 

more, whose hearts and souls were made truly glad, 
through the power and presence of the Lord God, 
which did accompany us. 

After I was abundantly refreshed at Swarthmore, 
and with Friends thereabouts, I went into West- 
morland (according as it was upon me,) about the 
latter end of the Fourth month, in the aforesaid 
year, 1658, where I had some very good service 
among Friends at and about Kendal ; and after- 
wards I went out of those parts into the bishoprick, 
where I had several large and precious meetings, 
but one veiy large, gallant general meeting espe- 
cially, upon a certain moor, in a convenient place 
for Friends to come to from several parts of the 
country ; and the Lord's power and heavenly pre- 
sence was very much with me that day, even to the 
confirming of them that had believed in the ever- 
lasting truth, and to the convincing of those there 
present who were giving their hearts and minds 
unto the truth. 

After this meeting I went to Durham, where the 
same night I had a veiy good meeting ; for in those 
days it was common with us, (while such an effec- 
tual door was open,) to get meetings in the evening, 
besides that which we had had in the day-time ; 
for we were freely given up to spend and be spent 
in the work of the Lord, which in that day did 
prosper exceedingly, to our joy and refreshment in 
the Lord. 

When I had had very good service for the Lord 
in the bishoprick, I went into some part of North- 
umberland, and visited Friends there, and after- 
wards from thence to Carlisle, where I had very 
good service ; as also elsewhere in the county of 
Cumberland, where I had many precious and gal- 



WILLIAM CATON. 71 

lant meetings ; for in that county, there would come 
many hundreds to a meeting : and our meetings 
were commonly very peaceable, and the Lord was 
extraordinary good unto me, and gave me his word 
plentifully to publish and declare in the power and 
demonstration of his eternal Spirit, to the confirm- 
ing of many that had believed in the everlasting 
truth of God. 

After I had visited Friends and their meetings in 
that county, and was clear thereof, I returned 
again into Lancashire to the aforesaid Swarthmore, 
w T here I was wont to find Friends in the same love, 
life and pow r er in which I left them ; and it was 
very common to us, and with us, (through the 
mercy of the Lord,) to be plentifully refreshed 
together in and through the same; therefore had 
we many joyful and blessed days together, the 
remembrance of which doth even unto this very 
day sweetly refresh me, especially when I feel the 
same love and life fresh in myself, which then was, 
and yet is, the author of our living refreshment. 

And in the interim when I was at Swarthmore, 
it was my manner (together with others of the 
brethren) to go from thence to meetings in the 
country thereabouts, sometimes among Friends, and 
sometimes to fresh places, where, it may be, there 
had scarce ever been a meeting of Friends : for I 
made it my sole work to be found doing the work 
of God, unto which he had called me, and for 
w^hich he had in measure fitted and qualified me, 
blessed be his name for evermore, who never suffered 
me to go without my reward. 



72 THE LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XI. 

1658. — Travels to London — His labours in Kent, 
Sussex, fyc. — Proceeds to Bristol, and returns to 
London — Attends a General Meeting of Minis- 
tering Friends at the Bull and Mouth ( 1659J — 
Sails again to Holland and returns — Dangers on 
his voyage back. 

About the latter end of the Sixth month, 1658, 
I took my leave of that honourable family [at 
Swarthmore] and of Friends thereabouts, and 
accordingly as it was upon me, set my face south- 
wards again, visiting Friends in some part of Lan- 
cashire, and especially in Cheshire, where I staid 
about a week or more, and had several good and 
precious meetings to our great refreshment in the 
Lord. 

Afterwards I went pretty readily to London, 
where I found several of the brethren, and an 
effectual door open, and Friends generally well, 
fresh, lively, and very open and tender : and extra- 
ordinary good service I had about that time in the 
city, and the Lord was pleased to give much domi- 
nion, and even fulness to me out of the everlasting 
treasury, which freely, through him that strength- 
ened me, I communicated to them whose souls 
were breathing after the Lord. 

{Extract from a letter dated London, 13th of Seventh 
month, 1658, to Margaret Fell. 

" I came into the city, and my soul hath been much 



WILLIAM CATOxV. 73 

refreshed among the brethren. Here is a mighty door 
open at present in this city ; and Friends are gene- 
rally fresh, lively, and tender : and for the generality 
of the people they are much under, and many are mode- 
rate and loving, whose hearts are open to receive the 
truth. I have had as gallant service in the work of the 
Lord, since I came to this city, as I believe I ever had 
in my life. Upon the First day, I was at the meeting 
at the Bull and Mouth, where the Lord was pleased to 
open the hearts of many, who with joy and gladness 
received that which the Lord allowed me to speak ; so 
that in much love and tenderness I left them. After 
that meeting I passed a mile out of the city, when I had 
a very precious meeting, w^hich consisted of a great con- 
course of people, several captains and masters of ships 
and seamen, with other persons of note and quality, who 
were generally very moderate and open to receive the 
truth. After that meeting was ended, I returned again 
into the city to another meeting, where the power and 
presence of the Lord was made manifest, to the great 
refreshment of the most part of the Friends then assem- 
bled.] 

And when I had been about two weeks, or above, 
in and about the city, I went down into Kent, 
w r here I also found an open door, and fresh desires 
in people after the Lord ; and many precious meet- 
ings I had also in that county, which were of great 
service for the establishing of Friends in the truth 
who were convinced, and for the gathering in of 
others, who were hungering and desiring after the 
truth. 

I w T ent out of that county into Sussex, where I 
also visited Friends, and had several precious meet- 
ings among them ; and travelled along pretty near 
unto the sea-coast, so far as Southampton, where I 
had also gallant service among Friends ; and after 
we had been plenteously refreshed together, I took 
my leave of them as in other places, and visited 



74 



THE LIFE OF 



Friends at Winchester that were there in prison. 
Afterwards I travelled westwards into Somersetshire, 
where I visited Friends and some of their meetings ; 
and being sweetly refreshed among them, I went to 
Bristol, where I had some exceeding good service, 
as also in some parts of the country thereabouts 
among Friends ; and it was no small matter of joy 
and rejoicing to me to see the truth of God so to 
prosper and flourish, as I saw it did in that my 
successful journey ; and in due time I returned to 
London again by Reading, where I also visited 
Friends, and reaped refreshment there as well as 
elsewhere ; for in all those travels the Lord had 
been with me, which even made them (together 
with the service which I had in them,) very plea- 
sant and delightful to me. And many precious 
and peaceable meetings I had ; and the Lord gave 
me utterance in power and much authority, to 
declare and publish his name and truth ; all which 
redounded to his praise, which was his due, and 
which my soul did freely render unto him, who 
was the fulness itself, from which all my fresh 
springs did flow. 

After I had some very good service in London, 
as before, to the augmenting of my refreshment in 
the Lord, I passed down into Kent again, about 
the 20th of the Ninth month ; where I had very 
good and precious service for the most part of a 
month, and afterwards I returned to London again, 
where I was determined to have staid but a few days, 
when I went thither ; but the work of the Lord was 
so exceeding great in it, and meetings so full and so 
many, that it was even hard to get out of it again 
in a short time ; for indeed in those davs the truth 

7 • 



WILLIAM CATON. 75 

did mightily prevail and prosper, and not only in 
that city, but in the country about, as also in many 
parts of the nation. 

After that time I spent some months in those 
southern parts, where especially there was such an 
effectual door open : and oftentimes in great service 
for the Lord I was exercised both day and night, 
in which the Lord even made my cup to overflow. 

At the time called Easter, [1659,] there was a 
general meeting appointed, especially for the minis- 
tering brethren, who resorted unto it from several 
parts of the nation, which was held at the Bull and 
Mouth, near Aldersgate in London, upon the fifth 
of the Second month, 1659 : it was very large and 
exceeding precious, even to the refreshing of many 
hundreds. And in the after-part of the day we had 
a very great concourse of people which resorted to 
our meeting-place at Horslydown in Southwark, 
where (within and without doors) it was thought 
some hundreds might hear the truth declared that 
afternoon, with which many were much affected ; 
and great was our rejoicing and comfort, which we 
had in the work and service of the Lord, in which 
we were abundantly refreshed together. And in 
that great assembly did our souls even with one 
accord, and with one consent, praise and magnify 
the God of our salvation : in a few days after, 
Friends departed out of the city again, their end 
being fully answered for which they came together. 

About that time it was upon me to go [again] 
for Holland, and so in due time I took my leave of 
friends and brethren in London, and in much 
brokenness of heart, love and unity we parted; in 
order to my going over, I took my journey towards 
Colchester there to take shipping, which accord- 



76 THE LIFE OF 

ingly I did, after I had had several large and pre- 
cious meetings : but the wind being contrary, I 
staid there, and thereabouts near upon three weeks, 
in which time I had very good and excellent ser- 
vice ; for indeed the Lord's heavenly power and 
presence was much with me, as in other places, not 
only to my refreshment, but to the refreshment of 
many more in the Lord. And finally, when the 
Lord made way for it, I went aboard, and we set 
sail ; but the wind proving contrary, we put in at 
Harwich, whereby I came to have an opportunity 
to see Friends there also. On the First day of 
the week, I had a gallant meeting there, unto 
which came not only many Friends out of the 
country, but also many people that were not 
Friends, who seemed to be pretty much affected 
with the truth when it was declared unto them ; 
but when I had spoken about an hour or two, the 
master of the vessel came and called me away, for 
he was determined to set sail : then T committed 
them to the grace of God, and went aboard, and 
probably thirty or forty Friends might follow me to 
the ship-side in boats, (such was their love,) to the 
admiration of the spectators. 

In due time through the good hand of God I got 
well over to Rotterdam, where I visited Friends, as 
also elsewhere in the country. I found things 
pretty well in reference to the truth, and meetings 
pretty peaceable ; and about that time strangers did 
come more frequently to our meetings than formerly : 
and if things had not been carried in much wisdom, 
we might have been often in tumults, for there 
were those who watched for iniquity, and were 
ready to do mischief, thinking that if the magis- 
trates would not meddle with us, as we then were, 



WILLIAM CATON. 



77 



yet if they could but procure an uproar or tumult 
at or about our meeting-places, that then we should 
be punished as uproar-makers. Yet notwithstand- 
ing the evil conspiracies of the wicked, the Lord 
was exceeding good to Friends, and very gently and 
compassionately he dealt with them; and they 
grew bold and valiant, and the truth got dominion 
among them : so that whereas my suffering before 
had been great in that country, (especially before I 
could speak their language,) yet the Lord refreshed 
me much among that small remnant which were 
called by his name, and which walked in his eter- 
nal truth : and having gotten their language, and 
being able to minister in it, I could much better 
ease and free myself of the weights and burdens 
than before* When I had staid about two months 
in that country, and seeing things in a pretty good 
posture as to the truth, Friends well settled, and 
their meetings kept in good order, it was upon me 
again to return for England, w T here there was such 
an effectual door open : in order thereunto I took 
my leave of Friends in Holland, whom I committed 
to the custody and protection of the Almighty, and 
so left them. 

In the latter end of the Fifth month, 1659, I took 
shipping for England, partly intending for London. 
When we had been about twenty-four hours at sea, 
we saw another ship w T hich proved to be a pirate or 
robber, which chased us; when the master per- 
ceived it, he caused all to be made in a readiness 
for to fight, and the passengers that were aboard 
they were furnished with arms as well as the rest, 
but for my own part I could not touch any of their 
weapons, as to shed blood with them, but stood 
simply given up to the will of the Lord. But as 



78 THE LIFE OF 

Providence ordered it, when they were almost 
within shot of us, their hearts failed them, and 
they were not suffered to come up to us, so that 
there was no blood shed, nor harm done either to 
each other ; wherein the Lord even answered my 
desire, and for which mercy my soul did even bless, 
praise, and magnify his holy name. 

But after we were delivered through the good 
hand of God from the hands of the aforesaid pirate, 
we were in pretty eminent danger through a very 
violent storm, which took us when we were near the 
coast of England ; and coming to cast anchor we left 
both anchor and cable, and had our boat split in 
pieces ; one great ship that rode by us was swallowed 
up of the raging sea, (a sad sight to behold,) there 
not being one man saved alive in her ; yet neverthe- 
less, the same God that delivered us from the hands 
of the aforesaid pirate, did also deliver us out of that 
violent storm ; through whose mercy we got finally 
into harbour at Yarmouth, though it was near upon 
a hundred miles from the place for which we partly 
intended. 



CHAPTER XII. 

1659. — He proceeds by sea to Sunderland, and 
passes westward to Swarthmore — Sis services in 
Cumberland — Travels to Edinburgh, Leith, and 
other parts, and returns to Swarthmore. 

When I was put so far to the northward as Yar- 
mouth, I determined to go from thence by shipping 
into the north ; which accordingly I did, with a 



WILLIAM CATON. 79 

Friend to Sunderland, where I found two of the 
ancient ministering brethren, (viz.) Francis How- 
gill, and John Audland ; with whom I was much 
refreshed, as also with the rest of Friends. And 
when the First day came, w r e went together unto 
a general meeting in the country, where there 
were abundance of Friends and others ; and the 
power and presence of the Lord was much with 
us, through which we were much refreshed 
together. 

After that meeting I visited pretty many Friends 
in the bishoprick, and in some short time after I 
passed westwards towards Lancashire through 
Westmorland, visiting Friends in my journey, as 
my manner was : and in due time I got well to 
Swarthmore, where I was received in the same an- 
cient and entire love, with which we were usually 
favoured together, through the infinite mercy of the 
Most High, which even abounded much to us and 
among us in those days. 

When I had staid some weeks there, and there- 
abouts, I went into Cumberland, to visit the flock of 
God there again, among whom I had many pre- 
cious meetings ; for indeed the power and presence 
of the Lord did accompany me, and his word of life 
run freely and powerfully through me, to the 
strengthening of the weak, to the comforting of the 
feeble, and to the satisfying of the thirsty soul. 
And when I had been through a great part of the 
county, and had visited most of the Friends in it, 
I returned again into Lancashire ; where I could not 
stay long at that time, because it was much upon 
me to go into Scotland to visit Friends there. In 
order thereunto I took my leave, even in an extra- 
ordinary manner, of my dear and near relations (in 



80 



THE LIFE OF 



the eternal truth) at Swarthmore, where we spent 
several hours in waiting upon the Lord, and in 
pouring forth our supplications before him, and 
in being refreshed abundantly together, after we 
seemed to be perfectly clear and ready to part one 
from another ; which finally we did, in exceeding 
much love and unity. 

Being accompanied by two dear brethren, 
(Leonard Fell, and Robert Salthouse,) I went back 
again into Cumberland, and visited Friends in my 
journey thither, where I heard much of the troubles 
that were in that nation, and of the likelihood of 
their increasing; yet nevertheless I could not be 
freed of the journey, but must go on (like as I did,) 
in the name and power of the Lord : and presently 
after our coming into that nation, the aforesaid 
brethren took their leave of me and I of them, in 
the fulness of our Father's love, in much broken- 
ness of heart ; committing* one another unto the 
protection and custody of the Almighty ; and 
afterwards I and another Friend travelled towards 
Edinburgh, where in due time through the mercy 
of God we arrived, after some hard travel. 

The next day after our arrival there, we went to 
a general meeting at Lytbgoe, [Linlithgow] about 
twelve miles from Edinburgh ; where we found 
Friends at their meeting by the highway side, unto 
which many people resorted, and a good service 
we had at it ; howbeit the people of the town were 
so incensed against us, that we could scarce get any 
entertainment among them for our money ; but the 
wife of the governor of the castle being at the 
meeting, her heart was opened and filled with love 
towards us and the truth, and she constrained us to 
turn in with her, and to take up our lodging in the 



WILLIAM CATON. 81 

castle; which we were free in the Lord to do. After- 
wards we had some more good service in the town, 
which when it was over, I returned back again to- 
wards Edinburgh and Leith, where I had some 
good service. And about that time it was pretty 
much upon me to have spoken with General Monk, 
(it being about the time of his advancing for Eng- 
land;) but I was not permitted, and was con- 
strained to deliver my message or to make known 
my business to his secretary, which he promised to 
communicate to his master, whereupon I came to 
be pretty well discharged. 

[The following letter is from theSwarthmore Collection : 
Thos. Willan, it appears, was a Friend of Kendal, 
Thomas Willan, 

My dear Friend, — Such is my love to thee and to 
Friends, that I cannot very well admit such an opportu- 
nity as this, when it is put into my hands, but that I 
must let you know something of my welfare and of the 
affairs of the Gospel in these parts where I am ; know- 
ing that it hath often tended to the refreshment of some, 
even as I hope these lines in some respect will. I for 
the present being somewhat far remote from you, even 
as in a forest or wilderness, where I should be in great 
jeopardy, did not the arm of the Lord's power compass 
me about, which is indeed my buckler and sure shield of 
defence ; by which I was brought well through the 
country, even to the city of Edinourgh^ the place to- 
wards which I was most pressed to hasten. And staying 
one night in the city, I passed on twelve miles the "day 
following ; when I met with several Friends to our re- 
freshment in the Lord. And having had two meetings 
together in that town of Lithcoe, [Linlithgow] where 
the governor's wife of the castle is a Friend, we or some 
of us returned to this place ; where sometimes the meet- 
ings are held, and sometimes at the city of Edinburgh. 
But for the present our meetings are but small, few 
strangers coming to them ; for many are surprised with 
fear who have some inclinations in them towards the 
truth, but dare not appear nobly to confess the same 

G 



82 THE LIFE OF 

before men, having little of the life of the same borne 
up in themselves. Since my coming into these parts I 
have had good service, sometimes among the soldiers, 
sometimes among the Scots, often among Friends, who 
are I hope benefited already by my being here, this 
being not only a time of trial unto them, but unto many 
men who are exceeding jealous one of another. For this 
is a day wherein many are offended, and because of the 
treacherousness and falsehood that one man beholds in an- 
other, there is great hatred and emulation amongst men ; 
insomuch that father is against son, and son against 
father, one brother against another, one family against 
another, and one nation rising against another. What 
shall we say to these things ? Is it not the Lord's doing, 
thus to dash one potsherd against another, that he alone 
may reign, whose right it is \ who is now arising in his 
mighty power, to break his enemies to pieces, like a pot- 
ter's vessel. I have sometimes since my coming here en- 
deavoured to speak with General Monk, but could not 
have access to him ; so the substance of that which was 
upon me, as to him and the army, I wrote and gave it to 
his secretary, who promised to deliver it to him : I also 
gave his secretary a copy of the same to communicate 
to the officers, which he said he would do. He with 
several others who were then present with me, were 
pretty moderate and civil towards me. Friends here 
with others were very desirous that it should be printed, 
but it could not be got done here ; and therefore it i> 
sent to Newcastle in order to be printed ; and if it be, it 
is like that thou with Friends may see it. I purpose 
shortly, God willing, to pass westward, and after I have 
visited Friends there, I know not to the contrary but I 
may return for England ; for, for the present, the door 
which hath been opened seems to be shut in this nation; 
where the spirits of men are much set on fire, and some 
are promoted, others abased, and strange overturningshere 
are among the children of this world : but the faithful 
and upright are little troubled at these things, being con- 
fident that they will work together for good to those that 
fear the Lord. For a further account 1 refer thee to the 
bearer hereof Geo. Collison. Salute me very dearly id 
Friends that inquire of me, and let them know that I 
am well at the writing hereof, praised be the Lord ! 
Many things I might write of, but not knowing in 



WILLIAM CATON". 83 

whose hands this may come,* shall therefore be sparing ; 
and remain thy dear friend and brother in the pure truth. 

Leith, near Edinburgh, , W. C. 

14th of Xinthmo.1659.] 

Afterwards it was upon me to visit Friends in the 
west of that nation, which accordingly I did, to 
the confirming and establishing of them in the 
eternal truth ; and in due time after I had had 
some good service among them, I became pretty 
clear of that country, and set my face again 
towards England : I travelled mostly alone, after 
my fellow-traveller had left me, and got well 
(through the goodness of God) back to England 
again. 

Upon my return from Scotland, I visited Friends 
again in Cumberland, and with some difficulty, (it 
being in the winter season and very tempestuous 
weather,) I got back again into Lancashire, and so 
to Swarthmore, which was always a place of refresh- 
ment to me. 

\_About this time W. C. wrote a letter to George Few, 
dated from Swarthmore, 20th of Tenth month, 1659, 
from which the following is extracted. 

After describing his service at Edinburgh, &c. he adds, 
" hut at that time the hearts and minds of people were so 
taken up with the bustlings and stirs that were among the 
children of this world, that there was scarce any room at 

[* This surmise seems to have been realised ; for by a 
few lines written by the said George Collison, at Carlisle, 
on the back of the original letter, he states, that when he 
came near that city, he was stopped by two troopers, who 
asked him if he had any letters; on his informing them 
he had one, they took him before the governor. It seems 
that great eagerness for information on the state of Scot- 
land then prevailed, that nation being reported by the 
writer to be at this period "in a mighty uproar."] 
G 2 



84 THE LIFE OF 






all for the truth in them. When I returned for England,, 
I left one Stephen Crisp in the west among Friends, who 
is a pretty wise man that came from Colchester ; and he 
was determined to stay sometime in that nation." — 
Svcarthmore Collection. ~\ 



CHAPTER XIII. 



ire — 



16o9-60. — jSEis service in the South of Lancaxhi 
Attends a general meeting at JBalhy in Yorkshire 
— Travels to London, also into Sussex, Kent, 
and so into Norfolk — Returns to London and 
proceeds to Dover. 

When I had continued at Swarthmore some time, 
it was upon me to go down into the south of Lan- 
cashire, to visit Friends and their meetings ; which 
accordingly I did, and several good and service- 
able meetings I had in divers of the great towns in 
Lancashire, as at Garstang, Preston, Wigan, Liver- 
pool, and Warrington, &c. 

Being at a meeting in Warrington, the 7th of the 
Twelfth month, 16-59, there came several rude sol- 
diers of the baser sort, who did much abuse Friends ; 
and after they had done much violence to us, they 
broke up our meeting, and forced us out of the 
town: but near unto the town upon the road-side 
we gathered together again, and had a sweet and 
precious meeting; but it was not long before the 
soldiers came thither also, and as I was speaking 
they took me violently from among the rest, and 
beat me, some with their muskets, and others with 
their spears, in the sight of Friends, to the breaking 
of the hearts of many. And when they had satisfied 



"WILLIAM CATOX. O-J 

their wills with abusing of me, they suffered me to 
return into the meeting again, which afterwards we 
kept a certain time to our great refreshment in the 
Lord, whose power and presence did exceedingly 

appear amongst us ; for as our suffering at that time 
was greater than ordinary, even so was our refresh- 
ment in the Lord. After that I visited Friends in 
some parts of Cheshire and elsewhere ; and when I had 
had exceeding good service in those parts, I returned 
again to Swarthmore, where T always found refresh- 
ment in the fulness of the Father's love, which 
abounded much among us in that blessed family. 

I had not been long there, and with my own dear 
mother, (who about that time laid down the body, 
when I was with her,) but it was upon me to go 
southwards, first towards a general meeting of the 
brethren from several parts of the nation, which 
was at Balby in Yorkshire, and afterwards towards 
London ; and it was so ordered that Thomas Salt- 
house (my dear companion and fellow- servant) 
together with Bridget and Isabel Fell did accom- 
pany me. When the time of our departure from 
Swarthmore was come, our very hearts were sad 
and broken within us, as they used to be at such 
seasons ; and when with prayers and supplications 
unto the Lord we had earnestly interceded one for 
another, and had committed one another to his cus- 
tody and protection, as our manner was at such 
times, we took leave one of another in the fulness 
and virtue of love and unity ; and then set forwards 
on our journey, in the name and power of the Lord. 

When we came into Yorkshire, we had some meet- 
ings before we got to the aforesaid Balby ; and when 
we got thither we found many of the ancient bre- 
thren there, and Friends that were come from several 



86 THE LIFE OF 






parts of the nation; so that the meeting consisted 
of many hundreds : when it was about the height, 
there came a part of a troop of horse to break it up, 
and to dismiss Friends, but they were moderate, 
and Friends did continue their meeting until they 
had freedom in the Lord to break it up. The 
next day we had a very large and precious meeting, 
not far from that place ; and when we were abun- 
dantly refreshed together in the Lord, through 
the supreme abounding of his mercy and goodness 
to us, we took leave one of another in much love 
and unity, and every one went in peace towards his 
respective place where the Lord had a service for 
him.* And as for me, and the aforesaid Thomas 
Salthouse, (my dear brother,) we travelled south- 
wards towards London, and visited Friends in our 
iournev : and as we were travelling in Nottingham- 
shire, some troops met us upon the road and appre- 
hended us, and carried us before some of their 
commanders, who sent us to the commissioners at 
Nottingham, where we were further examined by 
them, or some of them, and being found innocent 
were discharged, and suffered to pass on our journey 
in peace. 

Coming into Northamptonshire we visited 
Friends at Wellingborough and thereabouts, and 
being sweetly refreshed among them, we took our 
leave of them, and travelled along until we came 
well, through the mercy of the Lord, unto London ; 
where we had several precious meetings, and were 
more than a little comforted with the flock of God 
there, as oftentimes my soul had been before in that 
city : where I staid about two weeks, and after- 

* See an account of these Meetings in George Fox's 
Journal, under date of 1660. 



: 



WILLIAM CATON. 



87 



wards parted with my dear brother Thomas Salt- 
house. 

[The following letter, descriptive of the state of things 
in London at this period may be here inserted ; it is taken 
from the Swarthmore Collection. 

London, 7th of 3rd mo. 1660. 
To Thomas Willan, 
Bear Friend, 
Our dear and unfeigned love reacheth unto thee, and 
to the brethren with thee, whom we dearly salute in the 
living Truth. We rejoice in the Lord, who lifteth up 
our heads above the wickedness of wicked and ungodly 
men, which indeed is grown to an exceeding great height 
in this city ; which doth exceedingly abound in pride, 
fulness, excess, and in all manner of superfluity of 
naughtiness, to the grieving of the spirits of just men, 
and to the making of their hearts sad, who fear the Lord 
and work righteousness. Yet, nevertheless, this we would 
have the brethren to know, that as yet we see scarce any 
stop at all put to the work of the Lord in the city 
or country. For several precious meetings we had, as we 
came through the country, as a letter that is coming by 
the carrier, makes mention of more at large than at this 
tune we shall do. And as for the meetings, in general, in 
and nigh unto the city, they were, the last First day, as 
full, large and peaceable, even almost as Friends have at 
any time known them ; and abundance of sober people 
resorted to them and were generally quiet. — The 
guard of soldiers which for a season were kept at the 
Bull and Mouth, is now from thence removed ; and 
several quiet, large and precious meetings we have had 
there of late, since the guard was removed, which is not 
only removed from thence, but also from several parts o« 
the city ; and it is reported that the citizens would have 
all the soldiers of the old arm}" removed out of the city 
forty miles, or rather disbanded ; and they would under- 
take to guard and to protect both the king and parlia- 
ment. The old soldiers are come in exceeding great con- 
tempt, and with the most of men they are holden in 
derision, and that dreadfulness which once attended them 
is now departed from them, and others that dreaded 
them are now become a dread unto them. And, indeed, 
now is anguish and distress come and coming upon many, 



88 THE LIFE OF 






whose hearts have been nourished, and exalted, and 
puffed up without the fear of God ; who have not re- 
garded the cries of the oppressed, nor stood in God's 
counsel ; but have ever boasted themselves against [those] 
that hewed with them once • and, therefore, is it just 
with the Lord to give them for a prey unto their ene- 
mies, who were a prey unto them, while they stood in 
God's counsel ; from which many of them have departed, 
arid therefore are they fallen, snared and taken, etc. 
Friends in the city are almost generally well, as far as 
we know. John Stubbs is gone into Kent, Richard 
Hubberthome is yet in the city. The chiefest discourse 
among the people here is, about the king and the parlia- 
ment's proceedings ; who are speedily preparing the way 
for his coming, which is suddenly expected : but blessed 
be the Lord for ever, in whose power we can testify, that 
our King is come, who reigns in power and great glory ; 
and therefore need not we look for another. 

W. Caton, Thomas Salthouse. 
London, 8th of 3rd mo. — This very day the king hath 
been proclaimed in an extraordinary manner ; the con- 
course of people that have been in the streets this day 
have been innumerable ; the shouting rar joy hath been 
so exceeding great among the people at times, that the 
sound of many trumpets could scarce be heard, nay 
the bells themselves could not sometimes be heard, but 
the noise hath been exceedingly confused, like unto the 
noise of many waters. Time would fail me to relate the 
fantastical ceremonies that this day have been used, and 
the extraordinary pomp, the mayor and aldermen with 
the gentry have appeared in. And oh ! the vanity and 
superfluity of wickedness which this day hath appeared 
in the city, my pen could not declare it in several hours' 
time to the utmost. But at present I have not much 
time, being about to go to a meeting, not knowing cer- 
tainly whether this day they will or no suffer us to keep 
any of our meetings ; for they would not suffer that at 
"Westminster to be kept this day. This wickedness 
which is now at an extraordinary height, will have an 
end in the Lord's time. Let this be sent to Swart hint 're. 
after Friends have seen it at Kendal ; my entire lore 18 
unto all the faithful there and elsewhere. Farewell. 

w. c. 

My dear love in that which is our life, is unto you all, 



WILLIAM CATOX. 80 

and if G. F. be there I would gladly hear from him, as 
he is free. Richard Hubberthorxe. 

As for the sufferings of Friends, which G. F. said 
should be given to this parliament, it is not yet a conve- 
nient time to present them, because they do not act any- 
thing till Charles come, but what is in order to the bring- 
ing of him in, and so they were but lost to be given to 
them at present. 
London, 8th of 3rd mo. 1660.] 

[Also in E. H.'s handwriting apparently."] 

Accordingly as it was upon me, I went clown into 
Surrey and Sussex, where I had very good service for 
the Lord, and many precious meetings I had, which 
were of great service at that time. At Hurst in 
Sussex, upon the 27th of the Third month 1660, 
I had a veiy large meeting, unto which many 
Friends from several parts of the county did resort, 
together with many others that were not Friends ; 
and indeed an exceeding precious and serviceable 
meeting it was, but weighty and heavy upon me, 
before I went into it. But this I have often ob- 
served and found by experience, that by how much 
the more I felt the weight of the service of the 
meeting, before I went into it, by so much the more 
was my service in it, and my reward accordingly; 
blessed and magnified be the name of the Lord for 
ever ! 

At that time it was somewhat difficult travelling 
thereabouts, by reason of the many watches that 
were set with a strict order (as I was informed) to 
apprehend all suspicious Quakers, Baptists, and 
Papists ; howbeit, the Lord was pleased to preserve 
me out of their hands. At the time called Whit- 
suntide, we had a veiy precious and large meeting 
near Horsham, of Friends out of four counties, 



90 THE LIFE OF 

according to appointment ; which we enjoyed 
(through mercy) pretty peaceably, to our great re- 
freshment in the Lord ; who in those days did very 
eminently manifest his heavenly power and presence 
in our assemblies, to our great consolation in 
Him. 

After the aforesaid general meeting was over, and 
I was pretty clear of that county, I went into Kent, 
where I visited the brethren, and had many large 
and precious meetings in that county, which tended 
much to the confirming and establishing Friends in 
the truth, and to the convincing of those that heard 
the same eternal truth declared. 

When I was pretty free and clear of those 
parts, I returned again to London, where I staid 
some certain time, and had special good service as 
I was wont to have in that city. Afterwards I 
went into Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, and 
visited Friends and their meetings in many places 
of the aforesaid counties, where I had as ex- 
cellent good service as my heart could desire; 
for the Lord's refreshing presence went along with 
me, and the word of his power supported me, 
and carried me through the great and weighty ser- 
vice, in which I was so much exercised in that 
blessed day, wherein the truth did flourish and 
prevail mightily in very many parts of the nation : 
which was no small cause of joy unto us, who 
were witnesses of it. 

And when I had had such good service as aforesaid 
in those parts, and was become pretty free of them, 
I returned again to London, where I always found 
service enough, and for the most part a door open 
in that citv. — When I had been some time in it 



■ 



WILLIAM CATON. 91 

and had had exceeding good service there and 
thereabouts, it was upon me to go over to Holland ; 
and in order thereunto I returned into Kent after I 
had in much brokenness of heart, and in perfect 
love and unity taken my leave of Friends and bre- 
thren at London. In my passing through the 
county I visited Friends and their meetings, as my 
manner was ; and I staid several days at Staple- 
hurst with Thomas Housegoe, who then lay upon 
his death-bed, who had Been a serviceable instru- 
ment in his day in those parts; and after he was 
laid in the ground, we had a very precious meeting, 
there being many Friends at his burial. 

[A t Dove?', he writes to his friend George Fox, under 
date of the 16th of Ninth month, 1660 y from which letter 
the following are extracts, 

" Since I came from London, I have had exceeding 
good service in this county, both at Sutton, Cranbrook, 
Tenterden, but especially at Staplehurst, and in Thomas 
Housegoe's family ; for it was so ordered that I came to 
his house the same day that he began to be very ill, and 
that very night I began to despair of his life ; a day or 
two before he died, he gave a very good testimony to the 
truth, to the power and to the glory that is now re- 
vealed, &c. It was upon me to stay till his funeral was 
over, which was the last Third day ; and abundance of 
Friends there were at it, yea, several out of Sussex, so 
that it was a very honourable burial ; and after that his 
body was laid in the ground, Friends drew into the meet- 
ing-place, with several of the world, where we had an 
exceeding precious meeting ; for the power and presence 
of the Lord was abundantly manifested amongst us, to 
the consolation of Friends in general. And that night 
it was upon me to return to his house again, where I had 
very good service, and in the morning I left them in a 
pretty good hopeful posture ; but assuredly he will be 
very much missed in those parts, and I believe there 
will be now more necessity of Friends visiting them 
pretty often than there was before : I desire that thou 
wouldest be mindful of them. I have also been at Will. 



92 THE LIFE OP 

Beeme's, and at Hythe, and at Folkestone, where I find 
Friends very well, bnt some in deep suffering for that 
unhallowed ordination of tithe ; some are in prison at 
Canterbury, and some in Dover Castle, for refusing to 
pay it. Yesterday I came to this town, and had a very 
good meeting yesternight among Friends here, who are 
as well as ever I knew them. Since I came to this town, 
I have been to see for shipping, and there are some ves- 
sels ready ; it is thought they may set sail either this 
night or to-morrow at night, if the wind continue fair. 
And I purpose, if the Lord will that I can get passage, 
to pass along by them to Zealand, and go from thence 
to Holland ; but the officers here that look after pas- 
sengers are very untoward bad men ; so how the Lord 
will order it, I know not at present. Dearly beloved of 
my soul, let thy prayers be for me, that I may be kept 
in the power, life, and wisdom of our God, to his praise, 
and to the comfort and consolation of the brethren, with 
whom I can rest in the Lord, even in the heat of the 
day ; glory be to the Lord for ever. Will. Caton."] 
[_Swarthmore Collection^ 



CHAPTER XIY. 



1660. — He leaves Dover for Holland — His service 

in several cities and places — Returns to London 
(1661J, but soon after revisits Holland — He 
travels with William Ames into German// — At 
Heidelberg is courteously treated by the Prince 
Palatine. 

About this time I passed towards Dover, where I 
took shipping for Zealand, in order to my going for 
Holland ; and after some hardship sustained at sea, 
(the more by reason of tempestuous weather and 
contrary winds,) through the providence of the 
Lord I got to Flushing, where I staid but little, 



WILLIAM CAT0N. 93 

and passed for Middleburgh, where I visited the 
very few Friends that there were in the city ; and 
afterwards I went to Treveare, where I found a 
vessel almost ready to sail for Dort in Holland* 
And truly in my journey I was exceedingly filled 
with the Lord's love, and the power of his might, 
though I was as alone, not having any Friend in 
company with me, but many passengers ; and 
among the rest a Catholic, who was filled w T ith much 
envy and wickedness, and uttered desperate threat- 
ening words against me, giving some to understand 
what a small matter it was in their account, to do a 
man a mischief who spoke against their religion. In 
the height of his wickedness he boasted of a pardon 
which he had in his pocket, not only for the sins 
he had committed, but also for what he should 
commit : but before we parted, the power of the 
Lord reached to his own witness in the man, 
whereby he was smitten in himself for his folly, 
and his fury against me was much turned into 
friendship towards me. Thus do we often see the 
Lord changing the hearts of our enemies, and 
restraining them from the evil they intend against 
us ; which we must needs acknowledge to be the 
Lord's doing, which is and often hath been marvel- 
lous in our eyes; to him therefore be glory, honour, 
and dominion, for ever and ever. 

Afterwards I got well to Rotterdam (through 
mercy,) where I found Friends Yery well in the 
Lord. And after we had been sweetly comforted, 
together, I took leave of them, and went to the 
city of Leyden, where I also visited that little 
flock, with whom my soul at that time was comforted. 
From thence I passed to the city of Amsterdam, 
where my refreshment was augmented in the Lord 



94 THE LIFE OF 

among his babes in that place, at which I arrived 
the sixth of the Tenth month, 1660. 

Afterwards it was upon me with another Friend 
(called Peter Hendrix) to go into Friesland, which 
accordingly we did; and in due time (through 
mercv) we arrived well upon a First day in the 
morning, at a place called Dockhani, where we 
went into the meeting of the Doopsgesinds, (i. e. 
Baptists so called,) which was indeed very large. 
When he that spoke had done, I stood up and 
began to declare the everlasting truth in their own 
language ; but they were much divided among 
themselves, for some would gladly have had me, 
others would not suffer me ; but one of the chiefest 
of their teachers was very moderate, and spoke to 
this purpose, that if I had a nearer way to God to 
declare, than that which they knew, or one that was 
more excellent than theirs, they would willingly 
hear me. And in order thereunto many of them 
came together in the afternoon, and heard me de- 
clare that way which I preferred before theirs, and 
affirmed it to be nearer to God, and more excellent 
than theirs : and little they had at that time to 
object against it. Before we parted they were so 
far satisfied, that by their great silence (in which 
they sat as if they had been Friends,) they seemed 
not to have anything further to object. After the 
meeting was done, the aforesaid teacher invited us 
to his house, and to take up our lodging there, which 
(for several reasons) we were free to accept of. 
When we got to his house at night, many people 
followed us, so that we had a very good meeting in 
his house that night. And when we had continued 
there sometime in very good service, we left that 
place and returned to Leewarden ; the metropolitan city 



WILLIAM CATON. 95 

of that province : there we found some in whom there 
were desires after the truth, with whom we had 
some meeting or meetings. Afterwards we passed 
to a place called Mackham, where there were also 
many of the aforesaid Doopsgesinds, and there we 
were entertained by an old man, who had been a 
preacher among them for many years. 

When the First clay came, it was upon us to go 
to their place of worship, which accordingly we did ; 
and there we waited until he that was speaking 
had done : afterwards I began to speak, but he 
would not suffer me, (to wit, he that had preached,) 
but became presently very angry, though the people 
would gladly have heard me; but he would not 
suffer them ; and he became finally so uncivil, that 
he put the people out of the meeting-place with his 
own hands ; at which some being much offended, a 
skipper or master of a vessel, stood up and said, 
Wilt ghy hem alliier niet toelaeten om te sjireechen, 
dan sail ky tot mynents spreechen ; that is, If they 
would not suffer me to speak there, then I should 
speak at his house ; and the same man came and 
took us to his house, where afterwards we had a 
pretty good meeting, and such as had desires to 
hear the truth (which the aforesaid angry man 
would not suffer me to declare in their meeting- 
place) those came thither, so that some very good 
service I had there for the Lord. 

When we were free of that place, we went to 
W or chum, where we also had a meeting or meet- 
ings. When we were pretty clear of those parts, 
we returned again for Amsterdam, where we were 
received with joy and gladness by Friends there, 
who rejoiced with us in the good service which we 



96 THE LIFE OF 

had had; and blessed be the Lord for our pre- 
servation. 

[From this city W. C. addressed a letter to Friends in 
England, fas is supposed^ from which the following 
extracts are selected* 

! my beloved Friends, 
It is delightful to me to meditate upon the Lord's love 
to you, and it is a comfort and refreshment to my soul to 
feel you in the unity of the eternal Spirit, wherein I 
have daily communion with you, though I am necessi- 
tated, for the scattered seed's sake, to be much as without 
the camp, where the reproach is borne, with many 
weights and burdens, by reason of which my soul is 
sometimes bowed down : yet ! my friends, I share 
with you of that joy and peace, love and life, which 
abound in your tents ; and therein can I rejoice with 
you in the midst of our trials and sufferings, though as 
to the outward I am far separate from you ; yet know, 
that I have no more want and scarcity than I had when 
I was with you ; for my heart is full of love, my mouth 
with praise, and mine eyes with tears, when I behold 
your integrity and innocency, your faithfulness and con- 
stancy, under your trials and burdens. Often is my soul 
poured forth unto my Father on your behalf; — unto 
whom a child is born, unto whom a Son is given ; whose 
name is called the Prince of Peace, and of the increase 
of whose government there shall be no end. And this is 
He, of whom I bare testimony to the nations, though 
they abhor Him, and say within themselves, — ' we will 
not have Him to rule over us, or we will not suffer any 
of His messengers and servants to dwell among us, but 
we will imprison them, and put them to death,' &c. 
And thus the Lord may suffer them to do, until they 
have filled up the measure of their iniquities, as the 
Amorites did ; and then shall his iron rod be stretched 
over them, by which they shall be broken to pieces like 
a potter's vessel, who have abhorred Him, and hated 
Him without a cause ; but in that day will lie spare you, 
who have followed Him through great tribulation. — In 
the meantime, 0! beloved, he will try your faith and 
patience ; but be ye not therefore troubled, for he knows 
what is good for you, in whom he has chosen in these 






WILLIAM CATON. 97 

latter days to manifest his power and glory, to the 
families of the earth, whose glory and dignity must he 
stained and brought to nothing." 

[He then proceeds to give a similar narrative of his 
labours in Friesland, fyc. though somewhat more minute 
than given at this place in the Journal. He afterwards 
adds :] 

" The sudden and violent storm which ye have had 
in England,* hath also stirred the waters very much 
here, so that they rage and swell, as if they would pre- 
vail beyond the bounds which are set for them : and 
much mire and dirt they cast up, vending part of it 
forth in their currents or weekly intelligence, and part 
in ballads, wherein they seem to lay that chiefly to the 
charge of Friends which at late happened in London, as it 
they had conspired together to do much more than what 
was done : and the vulgar sort of people that have no feeling 
of the witness of God in themselves, they believe it ; but 
some sober and honest-hearted men slight it, and do not 
much regard it : but the baser sort hath taken a mighty 
occasion hereby against us, and they rage and tear as if 
they would swallow us up quick. And we are credibly in- 
formed that fifty of the wildest of men here have com- 
bined together/ not only to break our meeting, but also 
to pull down the house to the ground, where we have 
often met : so that ye may understand, that we are here 
daily in as great jeopardy as they in England, that are 
not yet cast into prison. The last First day there were 
some very wicked men at our meeting, who were ex- 
ceeding desperate and violent ; but blessed be the Lord ! 
they were not suffered to do much harm, and that which 
they did, was more to the house, than to Friends, who 
are given up to the will of the Lord, as well to suffer 
with you for the Truth, as to rejoice with you in the 
Truth. 

" Now friends, ye know this day hath been long fore- 
seen, and often have ye been told that it would come : 
and seeing it is come, think not these fiery trials strange 
which attend, though for the present they may not seem 
joyous ; yet without all controversy, good will be 
brought forth by .them to some, and these things shall not 

* See the Histories of England, concerning the troubles 
consequent upon the return of Charles II. 

H 



98 THE LIFE OF 

be in vain ; for it appears to me that they work toge- 
ther for the hastening of that work, which the Lord is 
determined to cut short in righteousness for the elect's 
sake. Therefore, let that reasoning part be kept under, 
that would say, this would hinder the work : for who art 
thou that reasonest with the Lord I is not the work his ? 
and knowest thou better than he, what would be for the 
furtherance of it ? If not, be still, patient, and content ; 
and let him work for his Truth with us, or without us, 
according to the good pleasure of his Will ; who hath 
all power in his hand ; and this is he in whom we have 
believed, who commands the winds and the seas to be 
still, and they obey him ; have we not seen it, and are 
not we his witnesses \ if so, let us be patient a little, and 
we shall see the Lord work wonderfully. Though I 
have writ thus large to you at present, yet my heart is 
as full of love as it was when I began to set pen to 
paper : so in the fulness, do I most dearly salute yon, and 
in it do I leave you, and commit you unto Him, who is 
of power to establish all your hearts in the living Truth, 
in which I remain, your dear brother in the fellowship 
of sufferings, in the Gospel of Peace, 

William Caton." 
Amsterdam, 25th of 11th mo. 1660. 

\_From the Swarthmore Collection,^ 

After that I continued several months in Hol- 
land, where I had a very good service, sometimes 
at Atkmore, sometimes at Haarlem, sometimes at 
Ley den, sometimes at Rotterdam, but mostly at 
Amsterdam ; and I was much alone, especially 
about that time, for William Ames who had had 
very good service in those parts, was sometime in 
Germany, and sometime at Hamburgh : and once 
he travelled through Bohemia, and to Dantzic, and 
from thence to Poland ; and John Higgins who 
had been much in Holland, was seldom with me 
neither ; so that (I say) I was much alone in the 
country:, but indeed the mercy and goodne^ of the 
Lord abounded very much towards me, for which 



WILLIAM CATON. 99 

my soul hath cause for ever to praise and magnify 
his name. 

About the time called Whitsuntide, in the year 
1661, it was upon me to come over to London, chiefly 
to visit Friends there and thereabouts, after their 
great suffering. And the Lord gave me an oppor- 
tunity, with two other Friends, (viz. William Welch, 
and Benjamin Furly ;). and in due time, through 
the mercy of the Lord, we got well over to Har- 
wich, and from thence to Colchester, and so to 
London ; where I was at several precious meetings, 
and was more than a little refreshed with the bre- 
thren, not only at London but also at Kingston. 
But being pretty much pressed in spirit to return 
for Holland again (where there was some needful 
service for me, which required my hasting,) I took 
my leave of friends and brethren, in much love and 
unity at London, with whom my refreshment at 
that time was so great, that the remembrance 'of it 
afterwards was a great comfort to me. Afterwards 
we got well back to Colchester, where we had a 
very large and precious meeting, to our own and 
Friends' strength in the Lord. We then went to 
Harwich, from whence we passed over to Holland 
ag;ain, and had a prosperous and successful journey 
of it (blessed be the Lord,) which tended much to 
our encouragement. 

At that time I had in hand the book, called, An 
Abridgement,* which I printed at B,otterdam ; and 
after I had finished it, I visited Friends in most 
places of that country, and had several good meet- , 

* " An Abridgement or Compendious Commemoration 
of the remarkablest Chronologies which are contained in 
that celebrated Ecclesiastical History of Eusebins/' &c. 
1661. Reprinted 16S9. Whiting's Catalogue. 
h2 



100 THE LIFE OF 

ings among them, to their and my refreshment in 
the Lord. 

About that time it was upon me to go into 
Germany, partly to visit Friends, and partly to 
speak with the Prince Palatine, and some else in 
that country : in order thereunto I took my leave 
of Friends in Holland with much tenderness of 
heart, committing them to the custody and protec- 
tion of the Almighty. And about the tenth of the 
Seventh month 1661, I with my dear brother Wil- 
liam Ames set forwards on our journey towards 
Germany, and in due time we got well to Cologne ; 
from thence we travelled towards the Grave de 
Whitt's country, who had promised large liberty 
to all sorts of people, that would come and inhabit 
in his dominion. When we came there, we went 
to his house, and had an opportunity to speak with 
him ; and he reasoned very moderately with us a 
pretty while, and we endeavoured to inform our- 
selves as much as we could from his own mouth, 
of the certainty of what was published in his name" 
concerning liberty. But in the end, we perceived 
clearly from him, that his invitation, though pro- 
mising liberty or toleration, was not so much out 
of love to tender consciences, as out of covetous- 
ness for Avhat was theirs, as since hath more evi- 
dently appeared. 

After we had had a very good time with him, 
and had informed ourselves sufficiently, and tried 
the ground from whence such things had proceeded, 
we parted from him, and went up into the country, 
and had some good opportunity to speak with some 
of the priests and people ; and after we had satisfied 
and cleared ourselves, we left those parts, and tra- 
velled on our journey towards the Palz or Pnli- 



WILLIAM CATOX. 



101 



filiate ; where in due time we arrived, through the 
mercy of the Lord, at a place called Kriesheim, 
where we found a small remnant of Friends, that 
bore their testimony to the truth; with whom we 
were refreshed, after our long and pretty tedious 
journey. There Ave continued sometime, helping 
them to gather their grapes, it being the time of their 
vintage ; and when we had had a time of refresh- 
ment amoncn them, we travelled towards Heidle- 
berg, the place of the prince's residence. Soon 
after we came at Heidleberg, we went to the cap- 
tain of the prince's life-guard, and made known 
our desires to him as concerning speaking with the 
prince ; and he was willing to procure us access to 
him : so that soon after, the prince sent for us 
to his palace, and he being at dinner, caused us to 
standby him; and withal he heard very moderately 
what we had to say to him. Afterwards we pre- 
sented several books to him, all which he kindly 
received from us, and was indeed very courteous to 
us, and reasoned very familiarly with us in the pre- 
sence of the great ones that were with him ; and 
after we had had a favourable opportunity with him, 
we returned again to our lodging. 

In a short time after, we went up to the prince's 
palace again, having some further occasion to speak 
with him ; and having free access to him, we found 
him very moderate and courteous to us as before. 
He spoke to his captain to cause us to sit down at 
the table with his attendants^ which we found free- 
dom in the Lord to do; for he seemed to be some- 
what troubled before, when he had observed our 
unfreeness in that thing. After dinner we had 
much private discourse with him, (the Governor of 
Manheim being only present,) and we found him to 



102 



THE LIFE OF 



be pretty courteously affected towards us ; and there- 
fore we were the more free to declare the truth in 
much plainness to him, and zealous in pleading 
Friends' cause with hini, who had suffered by the 
priests about their tithe in his dominion. After 
we had spent some hours with him that day, we 
returned to our lod^ino; a^ain. 

coo 

About that time we wsve very busy in answering 
several books that were extant in Hi^h Dutch 
against the Truth and Friends ; the answers to which 
we had intended to have printed here, but the 
printers fearing the reproof of the clergy, durst not 
print them for us in this city. We then departed 
from thence, and returned again to Friends at Kries- 
heim ; and when we had staid some time with them, 
W. A. determined to return again for Amsterdam, 
there to get the aforesaid books printed ; and in due 
time he took his leave of Friends, and I went along 
with him to a place called Alstone, where the 
governor of those parts lived. It was upon us to go 
to him, to lay some abuses before him that were 
sustained by Friends. He was moderate towards 
us, and a good service we had with him ; and after 
that he gave me an order for the officer of the place 
where Friends lived, for him to take care that the 
rude multitude did not abuse Friends. After 
we had been with him, we took leave of each 
other in the endearedness of our Father's love, 
and he [W. A.] went for Holland, and I returned 
to Kriesheim again ; there I staid with Friends 
some certain time, and afterwards went to Heidle- 
berg again, for I was not clear of that citv. 
When I came there I hired a lodging in a gold- 
smith's house, and sometimes I went up to tin 
prince's palace, and had good service there; and 



WILLIAM CATOX. 103 

sometimes I was with some of the great ones of the 
city, with whom I had also very good service, and 
some of them were very courteous and respec- 
tive to me : and more love did appear in some of 
them towards me than others could well bear. 
Then began the enmity in the clergy to get up 
against me ; and through the means of some that 
were envious against me, I with another, young 
man, (who were all the Friends that were in that 
city,) were ordered to appear before the council, as 
also the man that entertained us ; which accord- 
ingly we did, and a very good service we had, for 
never had there been any Friend there before : so 
that they had many things to query of me ; and the 
Lord was pleased at that very time to give me 
enough wherewith to answer them, as also utterance, 
boldness, and dominion, even to the admiration of 
some. They were moderate towards us, and suf- 
fered me to speak pretty freely and largely among 
them ; but in the end (that they might appear to 
do something,) they would have me to depart out 
of their city, though they had nothing to lay to my 
charge, except for declaring the truth, and dis- 
persing some books which testified of the truth; 
nevertheless, they suffered us then to. depart from 
their judgment-seat in peace. 

Afterwards the prince came to hear of it, at 
which (as we were informed,) he was very highly 
displeased with the council for troubling us, when 
we had given them no just occasion. After that I 
went to the president's house, who had examined 
me before the council; and after a little discourse 
with him, he became pretty moderate, and did 
reason veiy familiarly with me, and asked me many 
things concerning our Friends in England ; as also 



104 



THE LIFE OF 



concerning the magistrates' proceeding towards 
them ; and I was very free to give him a full 
account thereof for his information. Before we 
l^arted he seemed to be very loving to me, and 
thanked me for the present I had given him, which 
was some Friends' books; and yet before the council, 
my giving of such books to people was the greatest 
crime they had to lay to my charge, though both 
the prince and he did receive them from me, and 
accept of them. 



CHAPTER XV. 



1661. — He visits JIanheim and Frankfort, his ill- 
treatment in a Monastery — visits theJesuist* Col- 
lege at Worms — At Heidleberg is introduced to 
the Prince — Sis proceedings in relation to mar- 
riage — Is married to Annehin Dirrix at Am- 
sten^dam, 1662. 

I was several months (yea half a-year) in that 
country, where I had very good service for the 
Lord, sometime in one place, sometime in another. 
I was several times at a city called Manheim, where 
there were a sort of Baptists, who lived together as 
one family, and had their goods common ; with 
whom I was several times, and did bear my tes- 
timony among them to the truth of God, though 
few of them received it. I was several times with 
the governor of that city at his own house ; and he 
was very courteous to me (at least seemingly,) and 
desired me as often as I came to the city, to come to 



WILLIAM CATON. 105 

his house. I was also in the country with a countess 
(so called,) who was veiy loving to me, and pretty 
open to hear the truth ; and at her house I found a 
great lord (so called,) who formerly had been 
general of the emperor's army, (as I was informed ;) 
and a great conference I had with him in the coun- 
tess' presence, who was rather one with me in her 
judgment than with the great man before men- 
tioned ; and after I had had some very good service 
with them, I left them. 

I was also at Frankfort, and endeavoured to get 
some book or books printed there, but could not 
prevail with the stationers ; for the books that were 
to be printed there, were first to be viewed by some 
of the clergy. When I saw I could not prevail 
there, I went (with a Friend) to another city called 
Hannau, where we got our business done ; and 
afterwards returned again to Frankfort, one of the 
chief (if not the chiefest) city in Germany. And 
upon a certain time, I went into their chief monastery 
or temple, where the emperors are usually crowned ; 
and the priests w r ere gathering to their devotion : 
they were exceedingly offended with me, because I 
did not stand uncovered in that (they call) sacred, 
(though it be an idolatrous) place. Some of the 
priests did speak to me, and one especially was 
exceeding angry; and when we had spoke but a 
little together in Latin, he turned from me in a fury, 
and another that was with him fell upon me, and 
did beat me sorely, and there he left me bleeding in 
the temple, where I left pretty much of my blood 
behind me, as a testimony against the idolatry of 
that idolatrous place. 

I was also in the synagogue of the Jews of that 
city, where I reasoned pretty much with them, and 



106 THE LIFE OF 

had a good opportunity to bear a faithful testimony 
of the eternal truth ; though they could apprehend 
little of it with their dark minds, which were 
blinded with the god of this world, like as their 
forefathers were. I had also some books to dispose 
of among them, which for novelty's sake they 
coveted much after : and when I had cleared my- 
self of them, I left them ; and in due time returned 
again into the Palz. 

I was also at the city of Worms ; and it was upon 
me to go to the Jesuits' college, to reason with them, 
or some of them, concerning the truth of God ; and 
their traditions, which accordingly I did. And 
when I came there, one that was eminent anions 
them did soon enter into discourse with me, and 
spoke very feignedly to me for some time ; for 
at the first he seemed to have hopes (as it appeared 
to me) to have won or gained me to his religion; 
and therefore did he seem to be the more ready and 
willing to resolve me in whatsoever I propounded, 
so far as (I believe) he well could. But when he 
saw I did notwithstanding lay open their apostacy, 
and boldly gave my testimony against their inven- 
tions, superstitions, and traditions, he could scarcely 
contain himself from breaking out into a passion. 
I had spent some hours in dispute with him, in the 
presence of several that belonged to the college, for 
whom he was as the mouth for the whole. When I 
had cleared my conscience, and borne a faithful 
testimony unto the truth among them, I left them, 
and returned again 1o Kreisheim, where our Friends 
inhabited ; for sometimes I was there, sometimes at 
Heidleberg, and sometimes elsewhere, where I 
saw the Lord had a service for me. 



WILLIAM CATON. 107 

\_Extract from an Epistle addressed to Friends in 
London, by William Caton, dated Kreisheim, near Worms, 
in Germany, 80th of 11th mo., 1661. This instructive 
Epistle is printed at large in Besses Sufferings, vol. ii., 
p. 451. 

" We have cause to praise and magnify the Lord God 
omnipotent for ever, who doth not only comfort and 
refresh us in our tribulations, through the consolations 
of his eternal Spirit, but also hath prepared a refuge for 
us, which we have truly found in his eternal light and 
pure power. And now if no storm had come, then I 
believe there would not have been such flocking and 
flying to this refuge, as there hath been, and as there is, 
and as, I hope, there will be ; therefore, if the storm of 
persecution do drive such as were neither cold nor hot 
from under their green trees of specious pretences and 
fair shows of religion and reformation, to this sure hiding 
place or refuge, which is in the eternal light, life, and 
power, which you have now made manifest, then will it 
be good in its season. Therefore let none be afraid of it 
who are faithful in their measures ; for indeed our heavenly 
Father is so abundant in mercy and goodness to his 
people, that if he suffers storms and tempests to arise, he 
doth not only still them, but even in the very time of 
them he covereth his dear babes with the banner of his 
everlasting love, so that truly they needed not to fear, 
though sometimes they that are tender and young among 
them may be too much afraid. And forasmuch as I 
know that the refuge before mentioned is known to you, 
and the covering of the Lord's eternal Spirit manifested 
in you, (which is the banner of his love spread over you,) 
therefore I beseecH you to be of good courage in the 
Lord : for to what end should you fear I to what end 
should you be troubled I to what end should you take ' 
thought \ You know that neither fear of heart, trouble 
of mind, nor yet taking of thought, can in anywise avert 
these things. And if it be the good pleasure of the 
Almighty to purge and refine you in the furnace of per- 
secution, (as heretofore he hath done with many of his 
witnesses in the world,) think it not strange that it 
should be so with you : but rather think it strange that 
the Lord hath so long dealt so gently with you, and 
that he hath so remarkably restrained the violence of the 
mighty, who have risen up against you, as if they would 



108 THE LIFE OF 

have devoured you at once. But behold, how have they 
been abased, brought down from their seats, and over- 
turned ; and though they have, as it were, bruised your 
heel, yet they have not prevailed against the Lamb, the 
captain of your salvation ; neither have they overcome 
you, whose faith hath stood in the power of the Most 
High, through which you have overcome, and not by 
the force of arms, nor by might of princes, nor by the 
greatness of your multitude. Remember, therefore, 
these things ; and strengthen ye one another in the faith 
and in the patience ; and look ye alone unto the Lord, 
and hearken and hear what his Spirit saith in you and to 
you. 

" When the spirit of enmity rules in a dominion, there 
is not much liberty to be expected by us to be enjoyed 
in matters of religion ; for it is well known to you, how 
through that spirit we have suffered from the beginning, 
which hath wrought mightily against us in our native 
country. In these countries here are three sects tole- 
rated, viz. the Papists, the Lutherans, and the Cal- 
vinists ; and all these have their particular government 
in their particular cities and villages ; and all of them are 
addicted to persecute those that are not of their sect. 
But above all others they seem to be bent against us, as 
the most offensive, irregular, and perturbatious people 
that are of any sect ; and notwithstanding the great 
variance that is and hath been among themselves, yet 
they can, as it were, join hand in hand against the truth 
and us. As for the Papists, they hate us as new up- 
started heretics, whom they account worthy of death : 
and the Protestants, they revile us and upbraid us, as if 
we were the Pope's emissaries ; and many of them esteem 
us as not fit to live upon the earth : so that as much 
as in them lies, they seek to toss us to and again, as a 
ship upon a troubled sea. But thanks be to God, our 
anchor holds ; so that they, with all their hard threat- 
ening, which proceed from their rocky hearts, cannot 
split our confidence, nor make shipwreck of our faith ; 
which is in the Lord Jehovah, who is over all, blessed 
for evermore ! "] 

Upon a certain time when I was at Heidleberg, 
there came two of my dear brethren to the city, viz. 
John Stubbs and Henry Fell, who had been at 



WILLIAM CATOX. 109 

i 

Alexandria in Egypt, and in Italy, &c. The post- 
master of the place seeing them, did bring them to 
my lodging, (for he knew me well,) for they had no 
knowledge of my being in the city ; presently after, 
came the captain of the prince's life-guard, having 
seen them in the street ; and he being a very cour- 
teous man to us, discoursed very friendly and fami- 
liarly with us, and afterwards told the prince of the 
aforesaid Friends being in the city. Soon after, the 
prince sent his secretary to my lodging to desire us 
ro come up to the castle to speak with him, which 
accordingly we did ; and when we came there, he 
began to speak friendly and familiarly to us, as his 
manner was, and did ask them much concerning 
their travels, and how it had been with them, &c. 
And a very gallant opportunity we had with him 
in the presence of the nobles, (so called,) that were 
conversant with him. After he had discoursed 
long with us, he parted very lovingly from us, and 
soon after we went out of the city. 

When the aforesaid brethren were with me, I 
received some letters out of Holland, whereby I was 
informed of the death of Niesie Dirrix, of Amster- 
dam, who had been a dear, extraordinary, and 
special friend of mine, and a true and faithful ser- 
vant to the flock of God in the Low Countries ; of 
whose love and virtue, faithfulness, and good ser- 
vice which she did in her day, a volume might be 
writ : so that when I heard of her departure, my 
heart was very much saddened, and broken within 
me ; and indeed it was more than I could well bear ; 
but the aforesaid brethren being with me, they bore 
with me ; and the Lord he supported me in that 
heaviness, and comforted me with the promise and 
assurance which I had from him, of his raising and 



110 THE LIFE OF 

bringing her sister Anneken Dirrix (with some else) 
into her love, life and spirit, to perform that or the 
like service for the Lord which she had done. 

In process of time, something came before me 
and upon me, as from the Lord (which afterwards 
did more fully appear,) concerning my taking An- 
neken Dirrix to wife ; unto which I took little heed 
at first, but sought rather totally to expel all such 
cogitations out of my mind ; yet, behold, by how 
much the more I seemed to extinguish the appear- 
ance of such a thing, by so much the more did it 
prevail in me, and came to be clearer and clearer to 
me ; which when I observed, I began to weigh the 
thing more seriously, and to hearken more dili- 
gently, to see what the Lord would require of me 
concerning it, and what the effects of it might be. 
And many things the Lord was pleased to show 
me concerning it; as in reference to the service that 
there might be in it as to the Truth and Friends ; 
and how helpful I might be to her, in assisting her 
in effectino; that service which I saw in the li^ht of 
the Lord would be required of her after the removal 
of her dear sister, who had been to her as her right 
hand; together with several other things which for 
the present I may omit to mention. 

Thus did the thing for a pretty long time remain 
very fresh in me, both night and day, and abun- 
dance of objections came in my mind in many 
respects concerning it ; but withal matter sufficient 
wherewith to answer them. And after I had very 
much tried and discussed the thing in the light of the 
Lord in my own heart, and in due time found it to 
be of the Lord, I began to acquiesce and to rest 
satisfied in myself, through giving up to the will 
of the Lord in the matter; but did not once 0] 



WILLIAM CATON. Ill 

my mouth of it to any for the space of many weeks, 
(I might say months,) nay, not while I remained in 
Germany. 

And withal it was about that time shown me 
how I should proceed in the matter, viz. : I was to 
keep it secret until I came into Holland, and then 
I should motion it to some of the brethren, before 
I should once mention it to her either by word or 
writing ; and if they did own it and approve of it, 
I should thereby be so much the more assured that 
it was of the Lord. 

When I had been about half a year in Germany, 
and had had very good service, especially in the 
Palatinate, it was upon me to return again for 
Holland, which accordingly I did. When (through 
the mercy of the Lord) I was gotten well thither, 
V visited Mends, (as my manner was,) and we 
were sweetly refreshed together. And as for 
the aforesaid Anneken her love abounded to me, 
and mine did the like to her in the Lord. And in 
due time when I had a good opportunity with some 
of the dearest of the brethren in those parts, I spoke 
with them about the aforesaid matter, and gave 
them an honest account of the ground and rise 
of it, &c. After they had pondered upon it, and 
weighed it in the light of the Lord, they made 
known to me the unity they had with the thing, 
and how their hearts were affected with it, and 
what service there might be in the thing, as to the 
Truth and Friends in those parts ; by all which I 
w r as the more confirmed in the matter, and further 
satisfied concerning its being of the Lord. And in 
some certain time when I had a convenient oppor- 
tunity to speak with her about it, I began to tell 
her in much humility and fear, (as before the Lord) 



112 THE LIFE OF 

what was entered into my heart in Germany : and 
how it was upon me at that time to acquaint her 
with it ; and then I did open the veiy ground of 
the matter to her, and told her at large how it had 
been with me in the thing : and that I desired her 
to consider of it, and that except she did also see 
and feel something of it, as from the Lord, she 
should let it cease, and speak no further of it. 
And withal I had three things to propound to her, 
which I was to leave to her consideration, and 
unto which I desired in due time to have her an- 
swer : The first was, it was upon me to give her to 
understand, that as for matter of estate, mine was 
not like unto hers, for I had not much as to the 
outward : and she was to consider whether she 
could notwithstanding consent unto the thing. 
Secondly, she was to consider how I was to expect 
my liberty (which was more to me than the trea- 
sures of Egypt) to go abroad in the service of the 
Lord, as I had done before, whether it was to visit 
Friends, or upon any other service for the Lord, 
or upon the truth's account ; this she was also to 
consider beforehand, that when the thing came to 
pass, it might not seem strange to her. Thirdly, she 
was to consider how if the thing should come to 
pass, there might peradventure follow some trouble, 
either from the magistrates, or from some of her 
relations, or other discontented spirits, who might 
be dissatisfied with the thing ; and therefore she 
was to consider whether she could bear that or no. 

These three things I left to her consideration, 
and when she was free, she was to return me an 
answer thereunto, which in several weeks after she 
did. As to the first she said, it was not means 
that she looked after, but virtue : and as to the 






WILLIAM CATON. 113 

second she said, that when I was moved of the 
Lord to go upon any service on account of the 
truth, whether to visit Friends or otherwise, she 
hoped that she should not be the woman that 
would hinder me upon such an account. And as 
to the last, she said, that if the Lord did once bring 
the thing so far as to be effected, she hoped to bear 
what people without should say, (when we were 
perfectly clear in the thing before the Lord,) for 
that would be one of the least crosses. 

And upon a certain time (many weeks after the 
thing was first propounded to her,) she opened her 
heart to me, and told me, how much such a thing had 
been upon her, while I was yet in Germany, though 
I had not written a word of it to her ; and how 
that, though she desired much to see me, yet because 
she feared such a thing would come upon her at my 
return, she desired therefore I might have staid 
the longer out of Holland : and when I heard those 
things, I was confirmed afresh in myself, that the 
thing must needs be of the Lord, seeing he had 
made her so sensible of it as well as myself. And 
many weeks afterwards we w T aited upon the Lord, 
to know his will and mind yet further concerning 
us in the thing. 

In the mean time I wrote of it to several of the 
brethren in England, whose answers in due time 
I received, and compared them together, and be- 
hold T found them unanimously agree in their 
mutual approbation of the step, which also was a 
further confirmation to me of its being* of the Lord; 
yet in all this time we did not certainly know 
whether it would come to pass or no. We also were 
determined to keep clear from binding ourselves by 
promise ; as some that are unwise have done, yea, 

i 



114 THE LIFE OF 

and have resolved to accomplish the thing, though 
Friends should be against it ; nevertheless will they 
ask advice, and that when it is too late. But this 
we resolved to avoid, to the end that we might be 
the better example ; for it lay upon me that if the 
affair came to pass, it should be carried on in such 
wisdom, as that it should not only be of good 
report among the brethren, but that it should also 
be exemplary to them that should afterwards follow 
us in things of that nature; for it was the first 
marriage in those parts that was according to the 
approved manner and practice among Friends. 

After we had waited long in the affair, and when 
several months were expired, and I had imparted 
it to several Friends in Holland, by word of 
mouth, and did not meet with any opposition, upon 
a certain time she was moved to come to me ; and 
soon after was exceedingly broken, and wept as I 
may say in an excessive manner : for then it Wfcfl 
upon her to give up herself in the will of the Lord, 
and she was moved to speak these words, " We are 
no more twain but one flesh," &c. When I heard 
her speak these words with such a flood of tears, I 
confess I was somewhat moved thereby, but did 
not at that instant feel the life so immediately answer- 
ing to the thing, as I desired upon such an extra- 
ordinary occasion ; but waiting awhile exceeding 
steadfastly in the light of the Lord, the life began to 
arise, and the word of the Lord testified unto me 
thus, saying, " She is the gift of the Lord to thee." 
Then was my heart also broken, and in the fulness 
of love and unity in the everlasting covenant did 
I receive her as the Lord's gift unto me. And oh ! 
how were our hearts and souls overcome and re- 
freshed through the infinite love of God ; for as 



WILLIAM CATOX. 115 

we had desired that our joining together might be 
entirely by the Lord, that we might have the evi- 
dent testimony of his eternal Spirit in ourselves, 
even so it came to pass, to our great comfort in 
the Lord. 

After we were thus joined together by the 
Lord, and in his presence, it was upon me to write 
of it into the north of England, to have it published 
in that honourable meeting at Swarthmore, unto 
which I belonged, which accordingly was done, to 
Friends' great satisfaction. In the mean time I 
proceeded to the publishing of it in our meeting at 
Amsterdam,wliich I did three times one after another, 
without any opposition ; but on the contrary public 
testimonies were given of it by Friends in the 
public meeting. Finally when the time was come 
that the marriage should be perfected, there was a 
general meeting at Amsterdam of Friends from 
several parts of that country, who were eye-wit- 
nesses of our accomplishing of it in the fear and 
wisdom of the Lord, and in the unity of his Spirit, 
the last day of the 8th mo. 1662. When it was 
accomplished as aforesaid, all the men Friends 
that were then and there present at the meeting, 
did subscribe their names to a certificate, which 
for the future was for such as might desire to 
have an account of the matter for their satisfaction 
and information. 

The same dav after the meeting: was clone, did we 
bring W. Ames's body to the ground, who had 
finished his testimony, and left a good savour behind 
him. Though we went as wisely to work as we could 
to prevent a tumult ; yet nevertheless on a sudden 
the rude people were gathered together, and became 
so tumultuous, that not without pretty much 
i 2 



116 THE LIFE OF 

difficulty we could get through them with the corpse, 
which finally was laid in the ground; and after- 
wards the multitude was very rude, and Friends 
were pretty much abused ; howbeit, through mercy 

we were all preserved. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



1662. — He returns to England ; when in London, 
lie sees Edward Bur rough in Xewgate shortly 
before his death — Travels into Surrey, Sussex, 
and Kent ; is apprehended at Folkestone, but is 
discharged — Again visits Holland, and returns 
with his wife: travels into Wartviekshire, fie. 
and arrives at Swarthmore. 

After our marriage I continued several weeks with 
my dear wife, and the Lord was pleased very much 
to comfort and refresh us together with his infinite 
lovin^kindness which abounded to us, and with 
his heavenly blessings which he caused to descend 
upon us ; for which our souls have cause for ever 
to praise and to magnify his name. Afterwards 
I went out upon the service of truth, to visit 
Friends in other places, as I had done before. In 
less than three months after I married, it was upon 
me to go for England ; and in order thereunto I 
took leave of my dear wife, and the rest of Friends 
in those parts ; and about the 2-5th of the 11th 
month 1662, I embarked for England; and in 
due time (through the mercy of the Lord) I gtii 
well to Colchester, where I was sweetly refreshed 
with Friends, as I was wont to be in that place. 



WILLIAM CATON. 117 

Afterwards I went into the country, where I had 
several good and precious meetings. And when 
I had visited Friends in the country, I went up to 
London with another dear brother, and there I was 
also sweetly refreshed as I was wont to be among 
the flock of God, and especially at Newgate with 
dear Edward Burrough, who was then a prisoner 
there ; but in less than two weeks after he was 
released from his bonds, for the Lord removed him 
out of this evil world, that he might reward him 
with life everlasting in the world without end. 

When I had been certain days in London, it 
was upon me to go down into Surrey, Sussex, 
and Kent, which accordingly I did, and visited 
Friends in Surrey, and had some very good meet- 
ings among them, to our refreshment in the Lord, 
being accompanied by my dear brother JosephFuce. 
Afterwards we went to Horsham in Sussex, and 
visited our Friends and Brethren that were in 
prison there ; after which we had some good meet- 
ings in that county : and I being at a meeting at 
Hurst, was in much danger of being apprehended 
through the envy of a wicked priest ; but the Lord 
restrained the officers from executing his will, and 
therefore I was preserved out of their hands. 

After that we passed into Kent, visiting Friends 
and their meetings in our travels, as our manner 
was : at Staplehurst we had a precious general 
meeting, after which we parted in the fulness of 
brotherly love ; he [Joseph Fuce] went back into 
Sussex again, and I went towards Dover. When 
I came to Foulstone [Folkestone] I attended a gene- 
ral meeting there; and the officers of the town, 
whilst I was speaking, came into the meeting, and 
apprehended me, and carried me before the mayor ; 



118 THE LIFE OF 

who being pretty moderate, would finally have set 
me at liberty, if I would but have promised him, 
that if I went to the meeting again, I would speak 
no more in it, which thing I could not in any wise 
promise, and gave him my reason why I could not ; 
upon which he sent me to prison : and that same day 
afterwards we were had twice before the mayor 
(there being others with me,) who finally discharged 
us all that night. After that I took leave of Friends 
there (it being the First day of the First month, 
1663,) and went to Dover, where I had a very good, 
serviceable and refreshing meeting among Friends ; 
and being comforted together in the presence of the 
Lord, I left them, and went to a general meeting 
in East Kent, and from thence to Canterbury, and 
so to Rochester, visiting Friends, and from thence 
to London. I staid several days in that city, where 
I had several good and precious meetings : and 
afterwards (according as it was upon me,) I went 
from thence into the country again, in order to my 
returning over for Holland ; and several good meet- 
ings I had in the country at my return, to the 
renewal of our strength in the Lord. 

When the Lord of his mercy had thus prospered 
my journey, and made it successful, he also gave 
me a good opportunity to return again for Holland ; 
where in due time I arrived (about the tenth 
of the Second month, 1663,) to mine and Friends' 
great refreshment in that country, and especially 
of my dear wife ; with whom I staid not very long 
at her habitation, but as it was upon me, went from 
city to city, visiting Friends and their meetings : 
and the Lord was with me, in whose living pnsence 
we were comforted together as in months past. 

But I had not staid above three months in those 



WILLIAM CATON. 119 

parts, when it was upon me to go for England 
again : and about that time my dear wife having 
longing desires (with some other Friends at Amster- 
dam,) to see Friends in England ; she and they 
determined to go along with me, which accordingly 
they did ; and through the good hand of the Lord 
we got to Harwich about the twenty-ninth of the 
Fourth month, 1663, where we had a very good 
meeting with Friends, to our refreshment. From 
thence we w r ent to Colchester, where we also had a 
good meeting. On the First day following, we 
were at a general meeting in the country, unto 
which many Friends and others resorted ; and when 
I came there I understood that the constable had 
been there before me, and that he was determined to 
come again to break up the meetings : however, 
when Friends were gathered, I went in among 
them in the name and power of the Lord; and 
when I had sat but a little in the meeting, my heart 
was full of the word of life, which I had to com- 
municate to the congregation, and a very gallant 
and precious meeting it was. When I had done 
speaking, and was sat down, the constable came 
into the meeting, with his warrant subscribed by 
several justices ; but he knew not me from the rest. 
Moreover, there being a woman Friend speaking, 
he troubled himself a little with her; but afterwards 
he went away, and my liberty was preserved for 
future service, through the mercy and goodness of 
the Lord God. Afterwards w r e visited Friends at 
Coxhall [Coggeshall] and Witham, to their and 
our refreshment in the Lord. 

In some short time after, we went up to London, 
where we were much comforted with Friends ; who 
rejoiced more than a little to see people of another 



120 THE LIFE OF 

nation, and of a strange language, brought into 
the same living truth in which they were estab- 
lished, and to bear the same image that they bore, 
and to be comprehended in the same love, which the 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ had shed abroad 
so richly among them. And when we had been 
very sweetly refreshed with Friends in several 
precious meetings in the city and elsewhere, we 
went to Kingston to a general meeting; there ; and 
one of the Dutch Friends was moved to speak 
pretty much in the meeting, and I interpreted for 
her ; with which Friends were much affected and 
refreshed, feeling the same life and power in her 
that dwelt in us, giving testimony to the same eter- 
nal Truth ; this, I say, did much refresh Friends, 
and confirm them in the present truth. 

After that we returned to London, where we were 
comforted together as before ; but we staid not long 
there then, for it was upon me to go into the north ; 
and it was upon my dear wife, and the rest of 
Friends, to return again for Holland ; and in order 
thereunto, I with several dear Friends, did accom- 
pany them aboard, where I took my leave of them, 
and committed them to the custody and protection 
of the Almighty. 

In a short time after I also took my leave of 
Friends in the city, and pursued my journey north- 
wards ; and when I came into Warwickshire, I met 
with my dear friend Margaret Fell, and two of 
her dear children, as also two dear brethren, 
(viz.) Thomas Salthouse, and Leonard Fell; and 
truly our rejoicing was more than a little in the 
Lord, having not seen one another for a long time 
before. We travelled together into Staffordshire, 
and there parted, some went for the north, some 



WILLIAM CATON. 121 

for Derbyshire ; I returned again to a general meet- 
ing in Warwickshire, and went afterwards to 
Warwick, Coventry, &c, and visited Friends in 
several places in that county, where I also met with 
dear George Fox to mv refreshment. After that I 
went into Derbyshire, and had a meeting in the 
city of Derby, and visited Friends elsewhere in 
that county : and then I went into some part of 
Nottinghamshire, where I met with dear M. F. 
again ; and afterwards we went to Chesterfield, 
where we had a very good meeting. We then went 
into Yorkshire (visiting Friends as we went) to a 
place called Sinderhill Green, where clear G. F. 
met us : and there we had a gallant general meeting 
together. 

Afterwards we went to Balby, where we staid 
some days, and many Friends resorted thither, so 
that a good time of refreshment we had together : 
after which I took my leave of Friends, for it was 
upon me to hasten towards Swarthmore in Lanca- 
shire, which accordingly I did, but visited Friends 
by the way as my manner was, to our mutual 
comfort in the Lord. In due time, through the 
goodness of the Lord, I got well to Swarth- 
more, where I had not been for some years 5 and 
there I was received in abundance of love, and 
very sweetly I was refreshed with the remainder 
of the family. And when the First day came, a 
very precious meeting we had, to the refreshing of 
the whole body of Friends that were then and there 
present; for the power and presence of the Lord 
God was much amongst us, which was the cause 
of our great consolation in the Lord : blessed be 
his name for ever and ever. 



122 THE LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XVII. 

1663. — He visits Friends in Cumberland — Proceeds 
into Durham — At Scarborough tahes shipping for 
Holland, but reaches Yarmouth Roads — is driven 
back by storm again to Yarmouth, where lie is 
committed to prison from Eighth month 1663, to 
Second month 1664. 

After being at Swarthmore I went to Lancaster, 
Kendal, and other places, and visited Friends in 
those parts to onr mutual comfort. And it was 
upon me to go into Cumberland, which accordingly 
I did, so far as to the city of Carlisle, where I visited 
Friends in prison, and there (even in the prison) 
I had a very precious meeting ; and afterwards I 
visited Friends in several parts of that county, to 
our great refreshment in the Lord. 

When I was clear of that county, I returned 
again to Swarthmore, and there I found dear 
G. F. Dear M. F. was also returned home, 
which tended to the augmenting of my rejoicing 
which was great at that time with them, the family, 
and Friends. I had not been Ions: there when it 
was upon me to return again for Holland : but in 
the interim I went over to Lancaster to a general 
meeting which was held there in the assize week ; 
and some occasion I had with some of the justices, 
as in reference to a certificate, which three of them 
granted me under their hands and seals, (there being 
then reports of a plot,) and for preventing my being 
stopped upon suspicion without cause ; I therefore 



WILLIAM CATON. 123 

had their certificate, and returned again to Swarth- 
more ; where I staid but a little, when I took my 
leave of them in the fulness of endeared lov^, and 
with pretty much brokenness of heart, and so I left 
them, being accompanied by several of the brethren 
into Westmorland ; and after we were much com- 
forted together there, we took leave one of another, 
and parted asunder in the same love and unity 
in which we had been so plenteously refreshed 
together. 

Afterwards I travelled into the bishoprick, and 
visited Friends there, and went to Durham, and 
visited those that w r ere in prison ; and from thence 
I w r ent to Sunderland, and had a general meeting 
betwixt Sunderland and the Shields. Upon in- 
quiry after shipping for Holland, I heard of several 
that were preparing to go over, but the wind being 
contrary, and being desirous to visit more Friends, 
I travelled along the country (not far from the sea- 
side,) visiting Friends, as I went both at Shotton, 
Stockton, Whitby, and elsewhere, and had some 
very good meetings. When I came to Scar- 
borough, I heard of vessels there also, that were 
intended for Holland. After I had had a very good 
opportunity with Friends there, to their and my 
refreshment, the wind being fair, and the ships 
ready to sail, I took my leave of Friends, and went 
aboard one ; but soon after, we met with contrary 
winds : howbeit, w r e got up as far as Yarmouth 
Roads, and there w r aiting aw T hile, the weather being 
pretty good, w T e set sail again, intending to run 
over, if the Lord permitted. When we were got 
about ten leagues, I was much persuaded we should 
have a storm, and told the master of it, and w T ould 
have had him return again for England ; it being 



124 THE LIFE OF 

then indifferent weather, he did not much mind my 
words, but endeavoured to press forwards, though 
the wind was contrary. But that night following, 
according to my persuasion and expectation, we had 
a very sore tempestuous storm, and our ship proved 
very leaky ; so that what with pumping and other ex- 
traordinary work, the men were exceedingly wearied 
and toiled ; and as to outward appearance we were 
in much danger, for about the very height of the 
storm in the night season we lost the use of the helm 
for a time, so that the poor men were in great 
distress. In the mean while my soul interceded with 
the Most High, who heard my requests, and granted 
my desires ; though for my own part, I was freely 
given up to the blessed will of the Lord, if it had 
been to have made my grave in those great deeps : 
but the Lord was determined to show mercy unto 
us, which evidently appeared, in his bringing us, 
through such apparent danger among the sands, 
even finally back to the English coasts again : for 
which extraordinary mercy my soul hath cause for 
ever to bless, praise and magnify his glorious name. 
Afterwards we got well (through mercy) into 
Yarmouth Roads again, and the wind remaining 
contrary, we put into the haven, and I went up to 
the town, where I waited some days for the wind. 
In the mean time the First day of the week came, 
and it was upon me to go to the meeting of Friends, 
which accordingly I did ; and about the end of it, 
there came several officers and soldiers, and appre- 
hended seven Friends, besides myself, who were 
strangers in the town, (five of whom belonged to 
one vessel ;) and they carried us to the main-guard, 
where they kept us that night ; and very good ser- 
vice we had with the officers and among the soldiers ; 



WILLIAM CATON. 125 

and the next morning we were brought before the 
bailiffs of the town, who tendered us the oath of 
allegiance ; and because we refused to take it, or any 
oath whatsoever, we were committed to prison upon 
the fourth day of the Eighth, month, 1663, and 
continued in prison until the 22nd of the Second 
month, 1664 ; and then I with the rest of my fellow- 
prisoners were discharged. 



END OF THE JOURNAL. 



126 



THE LIFE OF 



The following interesting Epistles, nearly all of 
7vhich are from the Sivarthmore Collection, will 
serve to carry on the narrative beyond the period 
of the termination of the Journal. 

WILLIAM CATON TO FRIENDS. 

" Yarmouth Common Gaol, 

Ninth of Eighth month, 1663. 

" Dear and affectionately beloved Friends, 

" In the everlasting fellowship of the Gospel of peace 
(into which we are brought through the arm of God's 
eternal power) do I dearly and tenderly salute yon ; who 
are dear and near unto me in the truth of God, which he 
hath made known unto us, to the comfort and considera- 
tion of our souls ; whereby he hath engaged us above all 
the families of the earth to love and to serve him with 
reverence and godly fear. And though they that are with- 
out, do judge we are losers through our knowledge of the 
Truth, yet we find that we are become gainers through it ; 
for if we lose the love and peace and liberty, which the 
world in times past hath afforded us, we have gained the 
peace of God and liberty in his eternal Spirit ; if we 
lose that honour and treasure which was of the world, 
and which we have had in the world, we are honoured 
of our God with bearing his name, and we are become 
sharers, with the rest of his sanctified ones, of heavenly 
treasure, which the world cannot give us, neither can it 
take away from us. So that whosoever deem or imagine 
we are losers through our coining to be of this way, or 
by our coming to the knowledge of this eternal Truth, 
I say, nay ; for the things that we have lost by reason 
of it (being but as dross and dung,) are not worthy to 
be compared to what we have gained through it. Shall 
not we therefore love the Truth ' and shall not wo be 



WILLIAM CATOX. 127 

willing to suffer the loss of all this world can afford us 
for its sake! For can we have a better cause to suffer for 
than the Truth! can we suffer upon a more honourable 
account, than upon the Truth's account, upon the account 
of which all the righteous men, who have suffered in all 
ages, have suffered I And who are we that we should be 
called to this high and honourable calling I — or that we 
should be accounted worthy to become witnesses of this 
ancient Truth in this generation, to bear our testimony 
unto it with the rest of the faithful witnesses, servants 
and handmaids of the Most High ! The consideration 
of these things I confess might even be enough to break 
and overcome our hearts, and to engage us, as it were, 
afresh unto our God, who hath chosen us and loved us, 
before we loved him or made choice of him to be our 
Lord and God ; and whom we have found to be so exceed- 
ing gracious and merciful to us- ward. Let our souls and 
spirits therefore praise and magnify him for ever and 
ever ! 

" And now, Friends, you may hereby understand, how 
that after I had had a very precious opportunity with 
many of you in the north, to my great refreshment in 
the Lord, T was clear in myself to return again for Hol- 
land ; and in order thereunto, I passed towards the sea- 
coasts ; and when I came there, I heard of ships that w T ere 
near ready to go for Holland, both at Newcastle and 
Sunderland ; but the wind being out of the way or con- 
trary, and I being desirous to improve my time to the 
utmost, and withal being very desirous to see as many 
Friends as I could before I took shipping, I travelled 
therefore along the coasts towards Whitby and Scar- 
borough, and had some very good and precious meetings 
among Friends by the sea-side. And rinding a ship 
ready at Scarborough, and the wind being good, I went 
aboard her ; but the wind came contrary again : howbeit 
we kept out at sea and that for the space of nine days, 
whereas if the wind had been good we might have sailed 
it in two days. But finally a tempestuous storm came 
upon us, of which I had had some sight before, and told 
the master of it, and would have had him return again for 
England ; and indeed it was so violent that as to outward 
appearance we were in very imminent danger ; and the 
more so because our ship had gotten a sore leak, or rather 
more than one, and sometimes the pump was so out of 
order that it would do them no service, and besides they 



128 THE LIFE OF 

had lost the use of their helm, even in the very height of 
the storm. And in the mean time the ship was in no 
small danger of heing foundered or overset ; and as for 
the poor men they were as if they had heen plunged into 
the sea, and by reason of their continual pumping, be- 
sides the extraordinary toil they had with the sails, they 
were so exceedingly wearied out, that their courage and 
strength were very much departed from them. In 
which time I did much intercede with the Lord, and 
did with much fervency of spirit wrestle with him, that 
if it was his will their lives might be spared, and we 
preserved out of that extreme danger ; though as for my 
own part I found myself exceeding freely given up to 
bequeath my soul into his bosom of everlasting love, 
and my body to be buried in that great deep : indeed 
I confess I could sometimes expect little else. At 
that time I could have bid you all farewell, and all 
that in this world I do enjoy, and could have gone 
unto my everlasting home in peace with my God ; who 
even then beheld ray meditations and intercessions ; 
and because he loved me, was he prevailed withal, 
even for his mercy's sake, who was determined, as 
appeared, to show mercy unto us. For when we were 
near unto the sands (where dear Hugh Tickhil's wife 
and another Friend were cast away, as I am informed, 
in their passing for Holland,) the Lord was pleased to 
cast us betwixt two sands, which if our ship had come 
to strike upon either, she must in an instant have be- 
come a wreck. But blessed be the name of the Lord 
who preserved us out of that imminent danger, where- 
by he hath exceedingly engaged me unto him, and his 
unspeakable mercy I hope shall be held in a perpetual 
remembrance by me his servant ; who at this time do 
make mention of this remarkable deliverance unto you, 
to the end that you may know how good the Lord hath 
been to me, and that you with me may return thanks 
unto him ; not only for his mercies in general to us- 
Avard, but for this to me in particular ; the consideration 
and sense of which hath more than a little broken my 
heart, which hath been filled with praises unto the Most 
High. 

Moreover, Friends, I would have you understand, 
that the Lord having delivered me out of the storm 
before-mentioned by sea, he hath suffered me to come 
into another by land among unreasonable men, who are 



WILLIAM CATOX. 129 

even like unto the waves of the sea ; but he that limits the 
one, limits the other ; and I am confident that he that hath 
preserved me in the one, will in due time deliver me out 
of the other. By contrary winds, after we had been 
nine days at sea or thereabouts, we put in here at Yar- 
mouth ; and I being here on a First day did go to the 
meeting of Friends, which was a precious peaceable 
meeting : at the end of it, when we were standing 
up to depart, came there officers and many soldiers, and 
carried eight of us away prisoners to the main-guard, 
where they kept us that night among the soldiers ; and the 
next day we were carried before the magistrates of the 
town, who presently tendered the oath unto us. For 
toy part I told them, I had never sworn an oath in my 
life but one that I knew of, and that was when I was a 
boy ; and I had known the terrors of the Lord against 
the thing, and therefore I durst not swear again. But 
without any respect to my or our tender consciences, 
they committed us to the common gaol ; and so much 
confidence they had that we would be true to our prin- 
ciple, that they had made out our mittimus beforehand, 
yea, before they examined us ; wherein the only thing 
charged against us was for refusing to swear. We were all 
strangers to the town, come occasionally and accidentally 
to it; for five of the Friends belonged to one vessel in the 
town, who were come hither to load with herrings for the 
Straits, one of them was the merchant, another the master, 
another his mate, and the other two seamen ; the others 
are Friends out of the country : and there are warrants 
out for the apprehending of Friends in the town also. 
And very high they are (as the sea was for a season ;) and 
they keep Friends from us, and would force us to have 
what we have occasion for of the gaoler, which we 
cannot consent unto, though we suffer five times more 
than we do at present. But notwithstanding their fury 
and rage against us, it is well with us, — blessed be the 
Lord ; and resolved we are, in his name and power, to 
bear our testimony for the Lord in this place, as many 
of our brethren have done elsewhere. And as for my 
own part I am perfectly satisfied in the will of the Lord, 
not so much admiring at my present bonds, as I have 
admired sundry times that I have been so long kept out 
of bonds ; unto which I have long been freely given up 
in the will of G od, where my soul is in peace with the 

K 



130 THE LIFE OF 

Lord. So unto him who hath gathered you by the arm 
of his power, and who is able to preserve you unto the 
end, whose name is called the Lord of hosts, unto him 
do I commit you all ; with whom I remain, in the unity 
and fellowship of the eternal Spirit of life, your dear friend 
and brother, 

" WILLIAM CATON." 

On the other half -sheet is the following : 

" Thos. Willan, my dear and ancient Friend, 
" I desire thy care about this general epistle, which I 
would have communicated to Friends to be read in their 
meetings : I desire that a copy of it maybe sent into Cum- 
berland, and that the original or a copy of it may be sent by 
the first opportunity to Swarthmore. I hope thou wilt 
hear it thyself, so that I shall not stand to repeat anything 
in it ; but shall refer thee to it for an account of pas- 
sages.''* My dear love is to all Friends in town and in 
the country thereabouts ; whom thou may est give to 
understand, according to thy freedom, that I am well in 
the Lord, in whom I remain, thy dear friend and bro- 
ther, 

"WILLIAM CATOX." 



Extract from an Epistle of W. Cat on to Friends, 
dated a few days after the preceding one ; it is 

from a collection of copied letters from Colchester. 

" Dear Friend, 
" How near at hand we found Him unto us, even 
rock of defence to fly unto, in our greatest straits, diffi- 
culties and temptations ! And what free access have 
we had unto Him through his eternal Spirit in ourselyes, 
when by gaols, houses of correction, force of arms, or 
the like^ we have been hindered from having access one 

* This word "passages"' is of frequent use in these 
letters ; it also occurs in G. F.'s testimony at the com- 
mencement of this Journal, who calls it a "journal of 
gea f it appears to mean travels or services in the 
Gospel. 



WILLIAM CATON. 131 

unto another, or from meeting together in the outward ! 
How did we rejoice in the Lord, when he covered our 
heads as in the day of hattle, even until the fury of the 
wicked came to be abated ! 

" And forasmuch as in these perilous times, we 
cannot well serve our God in that way in which He 
requires us to walk, without being in jeopardy of bonds 
and imprisonments, or of having other sufferings imposed 
upon us, by reason of our meeting together to wait upon 
the Lord ; it doth so much the more concern us to feel 
the drawing of our God by his eternal Spirit to our 
meetings ; that when w T e are met, we may so much the 
more enjoy His presence to the refreshment of our souls. 
And then if we suffer for waiting upon him, he will not 
leave us comfortless in that suffering ; neither will it be 
grievous to us, while we keep in that through which we 
enjoyed him in our meetings, for in that we may enjoy 
him in our sufferings : and then it wdll be better to be 
one day in prison with the Lord, than a thousand else- 
where without the enjoyment of His presence, in which 
we have found (as you know) much joy and peace, 
much comfort and consolation. 

I suppose many of you have heard of my bonds, — how 
that after God, of his mercy, had delivered me out of a 
mighty violent storm at sea, I w^as cast in here ; where 
they in authority have shown themselves to be worse 
to me and the Friends with me, than the barbarous peo- 
ple of Melita were to Paul and them that were with 
him ; w T ho showed them no small kindness, for they re- 
ceived and lodged them courteously. But these that are 
called Christians, showed themselves far from courteous, 
in that they broke up our meeting w T ith many soldiers, 
and afterwards committed us to prison ; and instead of 
showing us much kindness, they have been so cruel 
to us, as that sometimes it was difficult for us to get 
water and bread. Howbeit, the Lord is with us, and 
their cruelty hath been little to us ; for we know that 
our God will, in his own due time, deliver us out of 
their hands, when our testimony is sufficiently borne. 
Of this I am very sensible, that with the baptism of suf- 
fering under this spirit of persecution in the nation, 
many are to be baptized into the fellowship of the Gos- 
pel with the saints in light. And blessed and thrice 
happy are they, and will they be, that continue faithful 

k2 



132 THE LIFE OF 

unto the end, — for they shall be saved. Farewell in the 
Lord, in whom I remain your dear friend and brother, 

« WILLIAM CATON." 

" Yarmouth Common Gaol, 

14th of 8th month, 1663." 



" Dear Brethren, T. S. and J P., 

" Tours dated the 12th of last month I have this after- 
noon received, to my refreshment in the seed immortal ; 
in which I feel your love extending to me, and perceive 
your sympathizing with me in these my bonds ; in which 
the Lord hath been pleased to try me a little, together 
with the rest of my fellow-prisoners, even as he hath 
tried many who are now at liberty as I was, when they 
have been as I am : but blessed be the Lord it hath been 
a good time for me ; and as I think I told you before, 
much I have enjoyed of the Lord since my confinement, 
and his love is perfectly continued unto me, in which my 
soul doth solace itself night and day. And much I could 
say unto you, if I were with you and the rest of our dear 
and near relations in that blessed family, who know my 
voice and integrity, my love and simplicity, — which is also 
pretty much known to many more, whom I love in the 
Lord. In these parts I find the love of Friends to be 
much to me ; but they are but seldom permitted to come 
in to us, for the bailiffs do absolutely gainsay it, for fear 
(as they pretend) lest they should bring in ammuni- 
tion to us, books or letters, ecc. — Howbeit, in eight weeks' 
time, through the providence of the Lord and our patient 
long suffering, our persecutors are brought so far as that 
they now do in part condescend to suffer provision to be 
handed in to us at the door : it is the last Seventh day 
that the gaoler caused the door to be opened for provision 
to be brought in, which was more than ever he had done 
before ; yet on the last Second day they were so high 
again, that when Friends would have brought in a sp in- 
ning- wheel, they would not suffer them ; and they going 
about to pull it up at the window, the turnkey cut the 
cords. But enough as to these things, for the Lord i^ 
with us; through whose word, power and Spirit we doubt 



WILLIAM CATON. 133 

not, but we shall in his time become victorious through 
suffering ; as our Captain and thousands of his followers 
have been. 

I was truly glad to hear of your liberty, and of 
Friends' welfare, and of the peaceableness and precious- 
ness of your meetings in those parts ; and especially of 
the well-being of that honourable family, and also of dear 
G.F.'s liberty yet in it, which I know is no small mercy 
to it. I desire to be dearly remembered to him, also to 
dear M.F. and to all her dear children ; unto whom my 
affectionate love is, as you right well know, as unto the 
rest of the family. I was glad to hear that my general 
epistle was come well to hand, and that it had such influ- 
ence upon the hearts of our beloved Friends in the meet- 
ing to their refreshment. It is much with Friends in 
these parts, as you relate it is in the north, viz. the 
meetings are mostly pretty quiet, blessed be the Lord ; 
but many of them are cited, and some excommunicated, 
and others have their goods spoiled, for non-repairing to 
their devised devotion. I am yet very well, blessed be 
the Lord ; so are we all. 

"My dearest love is with you my dear brethren: — 
Farewell, 

"WILLIAM CATON. 
" Yarmouth, 

First of Tenth month, 1663." 



Addressed to James Moore, woollen-draper, Kendal. 

" J. M. 

" With the salutation of dear and unfeigned love, do 
I dearly salute thee, and all our dear Friends and bre- 
thren with thee ; and being sensible of your desires to 
hear of me, to the end you might know how it was with 
us at the sessions, these are therefore to inform thee, 
together with the rest of Friends, that we were not once 
called at the sessions. When I saw they had adjourned 
their court, I went and spoke with the clerk thereof, to 
know the reason why we were not called ; he said, be- 
cause the court was minded to favour us : for if we had 
been called then, there must have been a bill of indict- 
ment preferred against us, and the oath tendered again 



134 THE LIFE OF 






to us, and then we should have been more liable to hare 
been premunired, &c. : he said further, if we would 
but give sureties for our good behaviour, we might go 
about our business and the like. Afterwards I wrote to 
the judge and to the bailiffs ; and the chief collector of 
this town took it from me, and gave it to one of the 
justices, who willingly carried it to the judge, and did 
plead our cause pretty much ; the judge was a mode- 
rate wise man, and willing that we should have our 
liberty ; and though he was in much haste to be gone 
out of the town, yet he prescribed to them a way how 
they might clear us, viz. by taking any one man from 
the quay, though but a porter, and he might serve to 
be bound for a hundred of us ; and when he came again 
he would take it oft the rile, so that we should not be 
called, neither needed even to appear any more. Fur- 
ther, he knowing our tenderness of conscience, ordered 
that the clerk should take nothing of us ; neither would 
he have had us further troubled or longer detained. 
And this, one of the justices, that carried our paper and 
is our great friend, sought further to have accomplished, 
to the end that we might have our liberty ; but when 
the judge was gone, some of our grand adversaries con- 
sulted together, and resolved to perpetuate our bonds, 
except we would yield and give our consent unto the 
recognizance : though they did not desire that we should 
come to appear at the sessions, yet they would have us 
to submit to satisfy their wills more or less ; and because 
we cannot satisfy them, therefore are our bonds continued. 
Howbeit, the aforesaid friendly justice is very much 
dissatisfied, and told the rest (in the hearing of one of 
our Friends,) that he could not be quiet, and would not 
be quiet till he had us out ; and in order thereunto, he 
labours yet very much to procure our liberty, but what 
the end thereof will be, time will manifest : in the mean- 
time we hope to rest satisfied in the will of our God. 

At Norwich there are several of our Friends in prison, 
some committed from the assize, and some from the 
session, being fined for keeping on their hats in their 
courts of judicature. Since the assize meetings have been 
broken up at some places in these parts; — for the judge 
was very high and severe against the fanatics, so called, 
in his charge and proceedings. But Friends are sweetly 
kept, blessed be the Lord ; and the truth is of good 



WILLIAM CATON. 135 

report and of good esteem among the upright in heart, 
notwithstanding the tribulation which comes upon them 
by reason of it. This very day we have had more 
visitors, than we have had in all the time that we have 
been prisoners here before ; and much pity seems to be 
in the hearts of people towards us ; and good service we 
had with them : but blindness and ignorance hath hap- 
pened to the most of them. The chief occasion of their 
coming to the gaol was to see some condemned persons ; 
and being here they came to see us also, and finding 
every man close at his work, the sight was so much the 
more strange to them. 

" I have little else to communicate, besides the redou- 
bling of my salutation of true love unto thee and to all 
the brethren. 

" I am, dear James, thy real Friend and brother, 

" WILLIAM CATOK 
K Yarmouth, 

Eighteenth of Second month, 1664," 

P.S. " The vessel out of which my fellow-prisoners were 
taken, when they were put in prison here, was taken by the 
Turks, and carried into Argeei [Algiers ?] ; so that though 
our persecutors intended it for evil towards them, yet 
the Lord may have suffered it to have come to pass for 
their good : — and one of them having heretofore been a 
slave in Turkey, knows what a miserable servitude it 
is. But the Lord knows right well, how to order things 
for the best, to them that fear him." 



At the period of the following Epistle, we find Wil- 
liam Cat on in Holland ; it is dated Hotter dam, 
16th of 10th mo. 1664. 

" Dear and entirely beloved Friends, 
" The love and affection that abounds in my heart 
towards you in the Lord I cannot easily express, nor the 
fervency of my desire to the Lord for you ; yet how T ever 
herein can I satisfy myself, in that we are come to read 
and feel one another in that which is immortal — which 
tongue (to the full) cannot express, nor pen (to the 
utmost) demonstrate ; and even through this, which is 



136 THE LIFE OF 

immortal, doth my love extend unto you ; and with the 
sense of your love, and the mercy of God to you and me, 
is my heart broken, my spirit melted within me, and mine 
eyes filled with tears. And what is that which thus 
breaks and overcomes me I surely it is nothing but the 
sense of the same love and life, which we have felt one 
in another, when we were together, to the comforting 
and refreshing of our hearts and souls. And though I 
am far separated from you as to the outward, yet I am 
not destitute of that which your souls delight in, nor 
deprived (through my external separation) of your joy 
and delight, of your solace and consolation, which is 
mixed with your adversity and suffering. Howbeit 
my heart is often sad, and my spirit even afflicted within 
me, because of the many impediments and obstructions 
which the Lord's truth meets withal in this country ; 
whereby it is much hindered from spreading and breaking 
forth : so that I cannot say that it flourisheth and pros- 
pereth here, as it hath flourished and prospered among 
you, when the Lord's truth did so eminently break in 
upon you, and his heavenly power did so mightily 
break forth among you, to our refreshment in the Lord. 
Yet verily I have no cause to complain ; for the wonted 
goodness and tender mercy of the Most High is perfectly 
continued unto me, otherwise I should be much more 
bowed down than I am, and that through the sense I 
often have of the body's suffering (and of yours as 
members of it) ; and also of the subtle working of Satan, 
together with other things of the like nature ; but the 
sense of the aforesaid goodness and mercy does sup- 
port me in all my travels and sufferings in the Gospel. 
And I doubt not, my dearly beloved, but that you have 
the sense of the same to support and uphold you, in all 
your manifold afflictions and tribulations. Well, there- 
fore, be patient and content in the will of the Lord, 
without willing anything, but that his will may be 
done in all things ; lest while you should will to have 
things thus and so, and after this manner or the other, 
you should be found out of the will of the Lord, and 
among them that are willing, and running, and un- 
believing, to whom there is no true peace nor rest. 
But I hope God, of his infinite mercy, will establish 
your hearts in faith and peace ; that you may depend 
wholly upon his power and mercy, which hitherto upon 



WILLIAM CATON. 137 

all occasions we have found sufficient : to this then will I 
commit you all, my dear friends ; and in the sense and 
virtue of the same^ do I dearly greet and salute you all 
with love unfeigned in our Lord Jesus Christ. 

" I suppose that some of you have heard of my being 
lately in Friesland ; where there was but little entrance 
to be gotten for the truth, and therefore was my refresh- 
ment the less, and my sufferings the more. Howbeit 
some few I found (and but a few) in their metropolitan 
city, who with a ready mind received my testimony ; 
and when I had been there some time, I returned again 
to Amsterdam, where we are much more visited with 
strangers in our meetings than in any other place in this 
country. And as concerning the plague there, it is 
(through mercy) very much abated ; so that there died 
the last week but about 186, which is about the ordinary 
number that used to die in a week : howbeit the city is 
not yet free of the sickness ; for the same day I came 
from thence, I v\ T as to visit a Friend that was exceeding 
ill of the plague, and two of his children are lately dead 
of the sickness, with another young man that lodged in 
his house. So that whom the Lord is pleased yet to 
visit with it, he visiteth ; and therefore none can assure 
himself of being freed from it longer than so long as the 
Lord pleaseth. 

" About the latter end of the last week, at and about 
Amsterdam, there was even a multitude of trees, small 
and great, that were so admirably rent and broken and 
bowed down by extraordinary ice that was frozen upon 
them, that it was very wonderful to behold ; surely it 
was a figure to that lofty city, and to the inhabitants of 
it, who are like unto those whom the prophet compared 
to the tall cedars of Lebanon. Here hath also been a 
strange comet seen for some weeks by many in these 
parts, which signs and tokens, as also the late visitation 
of the plague, together with the present threatening war, 
doth cause many to muse, and some to believe. Yet the 
Lord is determined to bring yet greater judgment upon 
this land; and it ma} r be that when the vial of the 
Lord's indignation shall be poured forth, then the day of 
the Lord's gathering shall be. This day I have seen 
their weekly news, in which they have made mention of 
our seven Hertford Friends,* that were ordered to be sent 

* See Se well's History, under date of 1664. 



138 THE LIFE OF 

away, showing how that neither wind nor weather 
would serve the ship that she could sail with. And 
when the master could have no success with them, he 
put them ashore, that he might accomplish his voyage 
the better, &c. This even makes our enemies imagine, 
that the hand of the Lord is against our persecutors, in 
their proceedings against Friends. I have lately visited 
the most of Friends in this country, and they are pretty 
well, blessed be the Lord ; and their dear love is to you 
all, and for anything I know, their small meetings are for 
the most part pretty peaceable. Often am I, with other 
Friends, truly sensible of your manifold sufferings, and a 
perfect sympathizing we find in our very hearts with 
you ; and we doubt not but you are sensible thereof. 
And truly we are right willing, not only to share with 
you of your consolation, but also to partake with you 
of your tribulation. So read ye our love, desire, and 
willingness, and compare the same with yours, and you 
shall find that we are the like-minded with you, yea of 
one heart and soul, and members of one body with you. 
And in this union and oneness we suffer and rejoice with 
you ; — and in the one eternal Spirit (by which we are 
united) do I remain, as in months past, your dear 
brother and companion, 

" WILLIAM CATON." 



The following are extracts from the latest original 
letter of W. Caton's, which the Editor has been 
able to discover. It is dated "Amsterdam, 19*7* 
and 20th of the Eighth month, 1665," and is 
addressed to James Moore, Woollen Draper, 
Kendal. 

" I give you to understand, that through the infinite 
mercy of the Lord we are very well, and our meetings 
continue unmolested ; except sometimes afflbng tin 1 many 
strangers that resort to them, there may be some con- 
tentious or light person, who may seem to be a little 
troublesome : but I must confess we have no just cause 
to complain, having no greater suffering than our sym- 
pathizing with our suffering brethren in England in 



WILLIAM CATON. 139 

their grievous sufferings. ! that the Lord would be 
pleased, in this remarkable visitation, which is upon 
that nation, to break the hearts of them that are so in- 
clined to persecution ; — that they might come to desist, 
from all such destructive enterprises, which are so ex- 
ceeding prejudicial, both to kings, kingdoms, and sub- 
jects, as might largely be shown. Methinks it is very 
commendable for to see, as I have often seen in this city, 
how that Calvinists, Lutherans, Papists, Baptists of 
divers sorts, Jews, Friends, Armenians, &c. go in peace, 
and return in peace, and enjoy their meetings in peace, 
and all are kept in peace in the city, and that without 
any trouble to the rulers of the city ; who I think have 
it manifold better, and are much more at peace and 
quietness than the magistrates in England, who first are 
troubled with making of laws to take away liberty of 
conscience, and then more than a little with executing 
those laws, &c, 

" I was glad to hear of the welfare of my friends and 
relations ; to whom I desire to be remembered, and in par- 
ticular to my sister Dorothy and her husband : and let 
them know, how that I and my dear wife are very well, 
blessed be the Lord. I desire that my dear love be 
dearly remembered to all our Friends and brethren ; 
also to Friends at Cartmel, Underbarrow, and about 
Hawkshead, and at and about Swarthmore ; in par- 
ticular to dear Margaret Fell and her children : and of 
my love to Yealand Friends in the truth I could say 
much. I herewith commit you all to the protection of 
the Almighty — and in love unfeigned remain thy and 
your dear friend, 

" WILLIAM CATON." 



%* There is reason to believe that within two, 
or, at most, three months from the date of this last 
Epistle, William Caton was removed by death, in 
Holland. " He died in the Lord, and is blessed ; 
and rests from his labours, and his works follow 
him." * 

* George Fox's Testimony concerning him. 



JOURNAL 



LIFE AND GOSPEL LABOURS 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 



First Printed in the Year 1661, 

UNDER THE TITLE OP 

"THE TRUTH EXALTED 

IB THE WRITINGS OF 

THAT EMINENT AND FAITHFUL SERVANT OF CHRIST, 
/ 

JOHN BURNYEAT." 



! The memory of the just is blessed." — Prov. x. 7. 

'• The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance." 

Psalm cxiii. 7. 



LONDON. 

1839. 



A TESTIMONY 

CONCERNING 

THE LIFE AND DEATH 

OF OUR 

DEAR FRIEND AND BROTHER IN THE LORD, 

JOHN BURNYEAT, 

BY 

GEORGE FOX. 



He was a faithful Friend and brother, and an able 
minister of Christ Jesus, who freely preached the 
everlasting Gospel, and laboured to keep it without 
charge ; who was a true apostle of Jesus Christ, 
and preached him freely, both by sea and land. He 
received the truth in 1653, in Cumberland, and died 
in the Lord in Ireland in the year 1690, after he 
had stood those great troubles, storms and trials 
there. He was a great strength to Friends in the 
time of their late great sufferings ; he stood it out, 
when many were ruined, and fled to England for 
succour, and he remained, till after King William 
came in, and King James went out of Ireland. 

And then he went up and down visiting Friends' 
Meetings, that were gathered in the name of Jesus: 
and afterwards he had intended to come for Eng- 
land ; but there he died in the Lord, and is blessed, 
and rests from his labours, and his works follow 
him. He travelled and preached the Gospel in 
Ireland, Scotland, Barbadoes, Virginia, Maryland, 



144 GEORGE FOX'S TESTIMONY CONCERNING 

New Jersey, Long Island, Rhode-Island, and up 
and down in New England, and had many disputes 
with many priests and professors, that opposed the 
truth : but the Lord gave hirn dominion oyer all, 
and to stop the mouths of the gainsayers ; and he 
turned many to the Lord, and was a peace-maker ; 
and he preached in his life and cony ersat ion, as well 
as his words. He travelled with me from Mary- 
land through the wilderness, and through many 
rivers, and desperate bogs, where they said never 
Englishman nor horse had travelled before ; where 
we lay out at nights, and sometimes in Indian 
houses, and many times were very hard put to it 
for provisions : but the Lord by his eternal arm 
and power did support us, and carry us through all 
dangers ; blessed be his name for ever. 

He was an elder, and a pillar in the house of 
God : and the name of the righteous shall be had 
in everlasting remembrance ; but the name of the 
wicked will rot. He was a man endued much with 
the wisdom of God, and in it had a care of the 
welfare of the church of Christ, to keep in peace, 
out of strife and contention : and laboured with the 
apostates and backsliders to turn them to Christ 
and his peaceable truth ; so that they might study 
to be quiet, and keep in the unity of the Spirit, 
which is the bond of the peace of the King of kings, 
and Lord of lords. And much more I might 
write concerning our dear brother in the Lord, — 
I knowing him very well, and his travels and ser- [ 
vice in the Lord's power and truth ; and so doth the 
Church of Christ, among whom he will be missed. 

But he is gone to his rest ; and the Lord by his 
eternal arm and power is able to raise up others in 
his place. 

The 13th of the 9th Month, 1690. G. F. 



AN ACCOUNT 



"WAY OF TESTIMONY 



COXCEIttflXG OUR 



DEAR FRIEND AND BROTHER 



JOHN BUENYEAT. 



We will leave to others the account of his birth 
and convincement, who were his neighbours and 
kindred ; and shall speak of him only, as some of 
us knew him from an intimate fellowship in divers 
services for above twenty years. He was a choice 
and seasoned vessel of Christ, the special work- 
manship of his power and wisdom, by which he 
was effectually qualified for the ministry of his ever- 
lasting Gospel, thoroughly furnished, may we say, 
to every good word and work, [which] God called 
him unto : — deep and large in his gift, reaching what 
was seasonable to every state ; — in judgment sound, 
free in utterance, zealous for holiness ; severe 
against unsound and dividing spirits : — most tender 
to penitents and returning prodigals, affectionate to 
the brethren, and careful over the flock of God, 
that they might answer their heavenly call, and 
grow in the truth : — of a grave and steady temper, 
yet sweet ; hardy in his constitution, and undaunted 

L 



146 JOURNAL OF 

and unwearied in mind. He was the father of many- 
children in Christ, who through his ministiy were 
begotten again to a living hope ; and the builder up 
of more, through the same, in the precious faith of 
God's elect. For this he often travelled through 
this nation, and sometimes Scotland, and the plan- 
tations in America, but Ireland in a more peculiar 
manner, both at his first entrance upon his ministry, 
and of latter years, where he married and chiefly 
resided, and where he laid down his head in peace 
with God, and love to his people, and good-will to 
all men ; being about the fifty-ninth year of his age; 
and is entered into eternal habitations, to praise the 
God of his mercies in the living family of the 
spirits of the just for ever. 

He was indeed a man of an excellent spirit and 
divine understanding from God ; and deep in the 
knowledge of the heavenly mysteries of the king- 
dom of God, and also of the depths, wiles and subtle 
workings of Satan, wherein he lies in wait to 
beguile the children of men : and the Lord many 
times opened him in his heavenly wisdom to declare 
of them, that those who had regard to God, and 
•the peace of their own souls, might be preserved 
out of Satan's snares. He was an able and power- 
ful minister of the Gospel of salvation, a strength- 
ener of the weak, and an encoura^er of the upright 
and sincere-hearted, to continue to the end : but he 
was indeed dreadful to the hypocrites and rebellious, 
and all the opposers and gainsayers of the truth : 
a skilful marksman, yea one of the Lord's worthies 
of Israel, a valiant man in the camp of the Lord, and 
an undaunted warrior in his holy host ; and his 
bow abode in strength, and wisdom was given him 
to direct his arrows to the very mark ; so that the 



JOHN BUHNYEAT. 147 

sturdy were wounded, the meek were comforted, 
the tender in spirit refreshed. And he was by the 
Lord made instrumental to wound that self-sepa- 
rating and dividing spirit, that had, for want of 
watchfulness in the divine light and faithfulness to 
God's Spirit and truth in the inward parts, prevailed 
over some ; who, notwithstanding in a disguise and 
under specious pretences, endeavoured to sow the 
seeds of dissension, discord, separation and division 
among the gathered of God, And the Lord 
blessed his labours greatly, and so preserved him in 
a holy conversation, and in a meek, tender, bearing, 
healing spirit ; so that he promoted both by doc- 
trine and practice that holy truth he professed and 
was a preacher of, and made full proofs of his 
ministry in many lands and countries : and at the 
great city of London, where he was made instru- 
mental to the good and comfort, refreshment and 
edification of many ; and was valiant there (as in 
other places) in the time of trials, sufferings, storms 
and persecution. 

He was also a great encourager of the good in 
young and old, and as a tender father and loving 
brother, to those who were young in their testi- 
monies for the Truth, and would rather help a young 
branch to strengthen it in its growth, than to bruise 
or hurt it in any measure. 

This short testimony we dedicate to his memorial, 
which shall be had in everlasting remembrance ; for 
his name is written in the Lamb's book of life, 
where none can blot it out ; — our brother, our 
friend, and our beloved companion in the heavenly 
fellowship, with whom some of us have sometimes 
travelled in England and Ireland upon divers 
services for the Truth's sake ; and blessed was our 
l2 



148 JOURNAL OF JOHN BURNYEAT. 



ong 



labour of love together. He was an apostle among 
the churches of Christ ; and he is a fixed and 
bright star in the firmament of God's heavenly 
power and kingdom for ever. O Friends ! you 
that knew him, know the loss of him in the church 
of Christ, with other faithful brethren since departed, 
and worthy of double honour ; concerning which 
sad providence we have this to say to you, — it points 
plainly to us the evil that is to come upon the 
wicked and unfaithful, and the great calamities that 
are at the door. The Lord fit us all for them, that 
we may find an interest and sanctuary in the Truth 
aboye the reach of this evil world ; which they 
will want, that do not prefer it [the Truth] above the 
cl liefest joy. 

London, the 10th of the Eleventh month, 1690-1. 

Stephen Crisp. William Penn. 

Charles Marshall. Benjamin Antrobus. 
William Bingley. John Vaughtun. 
John Field. Benjamin Bangs. 

Francis Stamper. Samuel Waldenfield. 
Jasper Batt. John Butcher. 

[Presumed to be issued from the Morning Mei I 

of ministers and elders, — Editor.] 



JOURNAL 

OF 

THE TRAVELS, fee. 

OF 

JOHN BURNYEAT. 



CHAPTER I. 



Account of John JBurnyeafs convincement l , 1653; 
— The various deep exercises of mind, which he 
and his early companions in religious profession 
passed through ; — The gospel worship into which 
they were gathered, fyc. 

In the year 1653, it pleased the Lord in his love 
and mercy to send his faithful servant George Fox, 
with others of his faithful servants and messengers 
of the Gospel of peace and glad-tidings, whom he 
furnished with the eternal power of his word ; in 
the wisdom and power of which he proclaimed the 
day of the Lord unto us, in this county of Cumber- 
land, and the northern pails of England, and dis- 
covered the right path of life unto thousands that 
were in error ; who sought the Lord, but knew not 
where to find him, nor how to become acquainted 
with him, although he was not far from us. But 
this blessed man G. F., one of a thousand may 
many say, and chosen before many thousands, was 
j sent amongst us, in the power of the Most High, 
filled with the strength of his word; in the wisdom 
whereof he directed thousands unto the light and 
appearance of Christ Jesus their Saviour in their 



150 JOURNAL OF 

own hearts, that they might come to know him, 
and the glory of the Father through him, in his 
appearance, and so come to believe in him with 
the heart, and with the mouth to confess him unto 
salvation. And blessed be the Lord, and the day 
of mercy in which he visited ; for he was pleased 
to make this labour of love effectual unto thousands, 
amongst whom he sent his servants to labour, and 
amongst whom it pleased the Lord to grant me the 
favour to keep a share of the benefit of this blessed 
visitation ; whereby I came to be informed concern- 
ing the right way of the Lord, and directed unto 
the true light, which the apostle was sent to turn 
people unto in his day, and so from the darkness and 
from the power of Satan unto God and his blessed 
power, which in my waiting in the light I received : 
through which deep judgment did spring in my 
soul, and great affliction did grow in my heart ; by 
which I was brought into great tribulation and 
sorrow, such as I had never known before in all my 
profession of religion, so that I might say in spirit, 
it was the day of Jacob's trouble ; for the God of 
Heaven, by the light of his blessed Son which 
he had lighted me withal, which shined in 
my heart, let me see the body of death and power 
of sin which reigned in me, and brought me to feel 
the guilt of it upon my conscience ; so that I could 
say he made me, even as it were, to possess the sins 
of my youth. And notwithstanding all my high 
profession of an imputative righteousness, and that, 
(though I lived in the act of sin,) the guilt of it 
should not be charged upon me, but imputed to 
Christ, and his righteousness imputed to me ; yet I 
found it otherwise when I was turned unto the light 
which did manifest all reproved, things. Then I 
came to see that the guilt remained, while the body 



JOHN BURXYEAT. 151 

of death remained, and while through the power 
thereof [we are] led into the act of sin. Then I saw 
there was need of a Saviour to save from sin, as well 
as of the blood of a sacrificed Christ to blot out sin, 
and of faith in his name for the remission of sins 
past. Then began the warfare of true striving to 
enter the kingdom ; then Paul's state was seen, — 
to will was present, but to do, power was many 
times wanting; then was that cry known, — i( 0\ 
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from 
the body of this death/' and free me from the prevail- 
ing power of the law which remained in the members, 
warring against the law of mv mind, and which 
brought into captivity to the law of sin. Then, 
when this war was truly begun, all my high conceit 
in my invented notional faith, and my pretence and 
hopes of justification thereby, was overthrown; so 
that all that I had builded for several years in my 
profession, after the days of my youth, (in which 
tender stirrings were in me after acquaintance with 
the Lord, and the knowledge of him, and peace 
with him,) was seen to be but a Babel tower, upon 
which God brought confusion ; and so could it never 
be perfected to reach to heaven, being out of the 
faith of his covenant, and which never could bring 
truly to trust in his word, and rely thereupon; but 
which led out into inventions, willing and self-acting, 
though another thing was talked of. Then seeing 
all my works confounded by the visitations of God, 
and by the springing of the day from on high, 
which discovered things as they were, seeing them 
all end at Babel, and the God of heaven bringing 
confusion upon them, I was amazed, and fear beset 
me on every side ; and I began sometimes to fear I 
was undone for ever : for that had entered my heart 



152 JOURNAL OF 

which had turned the fruitful field into a wilder- 
ness, and made that, which I thought had been as 
the garden of Eden, a forest ; and so the day of 
God discovered all to be desolation, dryness, and a 
heath, and so brought my soul to a deep lamentation, 
to the beginning of such sorrows as had never been 
known by me before. Then did I lament and 
bewail myself many a time, and wish myself in a 
wilderness, where I might neither meet with temp- 
tation nor provocation from without to withstand 
in my spirit, — such was my weakness ; for all the 
notion I had to talk of, respecting imputation of the 
righteousness of Christ, being but my own, which 
by his Spirit I had no seal for, and so was but a 
presumption, I saw clearly it was my own invention ; 
and so was but like Adam's fig-leaf apron, in which 
he could not abide God's coming. O ! the woe that 
overtook me! O ! the distress that seized me ! O ! the 
horror and terror that sprung in my bosom ! O ! the 
poverty and want that my soul saw itself in, through 
the springings up of the discovering light, towards 
which the eye of my soul was turned! And as this 
light did spring up, which the apostle of old had 
wrote of, it manifested all things, — not only the want 
that I was in, but also the reproved things ; and 
then sin became exceeding sinful, and the load and 
burthen of it became exceeding grievous, and all 
the pleasure of it was taken away from me and 
many more in that day. And then we began to 
mourn after a Saviour, and to look for a deliverer, 
and to cry for a helper and a healer : for the day of 
the Lord that made desolate, had overtaken us, and 
the fire and sword that Christ brings upon the earth, 
by which he takes away peace, had reached unto us; 
and yet we knew not from whence it came, though 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 153 

the burning and the judgment thereby was begun, 
by which the filth was to be taken away. 

And now in this distress, deep were our groan- 
ings and our cries unto the Lord, which reached 
unto him ; and he was pleased to hear, and show 
mercy : for we often assembled together, as the 
Lord's messengers (whom he sent amongst us) had 
exhorted us ; and we minded the light of Christ in 
our hearts, and what that discovered ; and in our 
spirits, we, through its assistance, warred and 
watched against the evil seen therein; and according 
to the understanding received, we waited therein 
upon the Lord, to see what he would further mani- 
fest, with a holy resolution to obey his will, so far as 
we were able, whatsoever it cost us ; for this I know 
was the condition of many in that day. We valued 
not the world, or any glory or pleasure therein, in 
comparison of our soul's redemption out of that 
state, and freedom from that horror and terror 
under the indignation of the Lord we were in, 
because of the guilt of sin that was upon us ; 
and so being given up to bear the indignation 
of the Lord, because we had sinned, we endea- 
voured to wait till the indignation would be over, 
and the Lord in mercy would blot out the guilt 
which remained (that occasioned wrath,) and 
would sprinkle our hearts from an evil conscience, 
and wash us with pure water ; that we might draw 
near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, 
as the Christians of old did, Heb. x. 22. 

But, alas ! we had not boldness, — for the living 
faith was wanting ; and a true heart we had not to 
draw near with, and therefore could not have full 
assurance; but we were compassed with fears, 
horrors, and amazement : and yet we came to know 
that there was no other way, but to dwell in these 



154 JOURNAL OF 

judgments, and wait in the way thereof; under- 
standing that we must be redeemed with judgment, 
as was said of Zion, Isaiah i. 27 : and so waiting 
therein, we began to learn righteousness, and 
strongly to desire to walk therein, and could no 
longer be satisfied with a talk thereof; and thus 
waiting for and seeking after the Lord (though 
greatly ignorant of him) in a deep sense of our own 
unworthiness and unpreparedness to meet him, 
because of the pollution of our hearts, (which was 
seen by his light that did shine therein,) we were 
still bowed down in spirit, and afflicted and tossed 
in soul, and not comforted ; and our hearts were 
unstable, like waters, — the waves going over our 
heads, and our souls in jeopardy eveiy moment, 
and our faith so little, that we were ready to sink, 
like Peter, often crying out in the danger. In that 
distress and vail of tears wherein we walked, our 
hearts became quite dead to the world, and all its 
pleasure and glory, and also to all our former dead 
profession ; for we saw there was no life in it, nor 
help nor salvation from it, though some of us had 
tried it thoroughly : we saw it was in vain to look 
to such hills or mountains for salvation. And 
when we began to forsake all on both hands, seeing 
the emptiness of all, both the glory, vanity, and plea 
sure of the world, and the dead ima^e of profession, 
which we had set up in our imaginations and inven 
tions,and had worshipped with our unprepared heart! 
and unsanctified spirits, being slaves and captives 
to sin, (as all must needs be that obey it in the lust 
thereof, according to Romans, chap. vi. andxvi.,) 
I say, when we thus had a sight and sense of th 
insufficiency of all we either had or could do t< 
give ease, help, or salvation, then we denied all ; 
and as we had been directed, we turned our minds 



: 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 155 

unto the light of Christ shining in our hearts, and 
believed therein, according to Christ's command, 
John xii. 36 : and so we met together to wait upon 
the Lord therein. Then began the profane to mock, 
scoff, and abuse us ; and our very relations, and old 
familiars, to be strange to us, and to be offended at 
us ; and they did hate us, and began to speak evil of 
us, and did think it strange that we would not run 
with them to the former excess of riot, as it was of 
old, 1 Pet. iv. 4. And also the professors, even 
such as we had formerly walked in fellowship with 
in our lifeless profession, began to reproach and 
vilify us, and speak evil against us, and charged us 
with error and schism, and departing from the faith ; 
and also began to reproach the light of Christ, as 
natural and insufficient, and a false light, and a 
false guide. Thus Christ, in his spiritual appear- 
ance, was reproached, vilified, slighted, and under- 
valued, and was set at nought by the carnal pro- 
fessors of Christianity, as he was in his appearance 
in the flesh by the Jews, the carnal professors of the 
law, who saw not through the vail unto the end. 
In this our weak state were we beset on every hand, 
and greatly distressed, tossed, and afflicted, as poor 
Israel was, when the sea was before them, and the 
Egyptians behind, — and their hope so little, that they 
looked for nothing but death, and said to Moses, 
" Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou 
taken us away to die in the wilderness," &c. 
Exod. xiv. 11. Thus through many tribulations 
must the kingdom be entered by all that strive 
rightly to enter, according to Christ's command, 
Luke xiii. 24. 

When we were thus in our deep fears, and our 
minds not well acquainted with either striving, (out 



156 



JOURNAL OF 



of self,) in the light and seed of life that doth pre- 
vail, or with true waiting or standing still out of 
our own thoughts, willings, and runnings, which do 
not obtain, the Lord sent his servants (who had 
learned of him) to direct us in what to wait, and 
how to stand still, out of our own thoughts and 
self-strivings, in the light that doth discover ; who 
often did exhort us to abide and dwell in the judg- 
ment that we received therein. And as we had been 
turned to the light, so was our understandings in- 
formed, and we got to some degree of stayedness in 
our minds, which before had been as the troubled 
sea, — and a hope began to appear in us ; and we 
met together often, and waited to see the salvation 
of God, (which we had heard of,) that he would 
work by his own power. And after we had met 
together for some time, as we had seasons and op- 
portunities, and also sought the Lord with travailing 
spirits both night and day, when we were at our 
callings, and upon our beds, (for we could not cease, 
our souls were so afflicted,) when in our assemblies 
we were exercised in the living judgment that sprung 
in the light in our souls, and were looking for the 
salvation of God, — the wonderful power from on 
high was revealed amongst us ; and many hearts 
were reached therewith, and broken, and melted, 
before the God of the whole earth ; and great 
dread and trembling fell upon many, and the very 
chains of death were broken thereby, the bonds 
loosed, and many souls eased and set at liberty ; 
and the prisoners of hope began to come forth, and 
they that had sat in darkness to show themselves. 
And the promises of the Lord came to be fulfilled 
unto many, spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, 
Isa. xlix. 9, and Isa. xlii. 7, and lxi. 23 ; and some 






JOHN BURNYEAT. 157 

taste of the oil of joy came to be witnessed, and a 
heavenly gladness entered the hearts of many, who 
in the joy of their souls broke forth in praises unto 
the Lord ; so that the tongue of the dumb, which 
Christ the healer of our infirmities did unloose, 
began to speak and utter the wonderful things of 
God. And great was the dread and glory of that 
power, which one meeting after another was gra- 
ciously and richly manifested amongst us, to the 
breaking, tendering, and melting of our hearts, 
souls, and spirits before the Lord ; then our hearts 
began to delight in the Lord and in his way that he 
had cast up ; and with great fervency and zeal we 
began to seek after him, and to meet oftener together 
than before, — our hearts being so affected with the 
presence of that blessed power, which daily broke 
forth amongst us in our meetings, through which 
we were greatly comforted, strengthened and edified; 
for it was that same Comforter our blessed Lord 
promised he would pray the Father for, and which the 
Father should send, John xiv. xvi. and xxvi. And 
then this [Comforter] being come and received, did 
teach us to know the Father and the Son ; and as we 
came into acquaintance with it, and into the unity 
of it, we came to be taught by it, and so taught of 
the Lord, according to that new covenant promise, 
— They shall be all taught of the Lord, Isa. liv. 13.; 
John vi. 4, 5. 

Then were our hearts inclined to hearken unto 
the Lord, and our ears, which he had opened to 
hear, were bent to hear what the Spirit's teaching 
was, and what He said unto the church, who is the 
chief Shepherd and Bishop of the soul. Thus were 
we gathered into a right gospel exercise and gospel 
worship by Him, through whose name we had 



158 JOURNAL OF 

received remission of sins past, and whose blood 
had sprinkled our hearts from an evil conscience, 
and who gave the pure water that washed and made 
clean : so that with true hearts many began to draw 
nigh unto God in the full assurance of faith, as the 
ancient saints did and were accepted, and had 
access by that one Spirit, by which we came to be 
baptized into one body, and so came to drink into one 
Spirit, and were refreshed, and greatly comforted ; 
and grew up together in the mystery of the gospel 
fellowship ; and so we worshipped God, who is a 
Spirit, in the Spirit received from him, which is the 
gospel worship, according to Christ's appointment. 
John iv. 24. And then we came to see over all the 
worships in the world, which were set up either by 
imitation, or man's invention ; and we saw it to be 
in vain to worship God, and teach for doctrines the 
commandments of men, as our Lord had said, 
Matth. xv. 9; and therefore were we constrained to 
withdraw from them, and also (many of us) to go 
and bear witness against them in their invented and 
traditional worships, where they were ignorant of 
the life and power of God. 

Thus being gathered by the Lord Jesus Christ, 
that great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, we 
became his sheep, and did learn to know his voice, 
and to follow him ; and he gave unto us eternal life, 
and manifested the riches of his grace in our hearts, 
by which we were saved through faith, and deli- 
vered from that wrath, fear, and terror, which had 
been so weighty upon our souls, and in measure 
from the power of that death which had reigned, 
and made us miserable and wretched; and we came 
to partake of that life, wherein the blessedness doth 
consist. So then the Lord becoming our Shepherd, 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 159 

he taught us, and led us forth into green pastures, 
where we did feed and rest together with great 
delight. O ! the joy, the pleasure, and the great 
delight, with which our hearts were overcome many- 
times, in our reverent and holy assemblies ! How 
were our hearts melted as wax, and our souls 
poured out as water before the Lord, and our spirits 
as oil, frankincense, and myrrh, offered up unto the 
Lord as sweet incense, when not a word outwardly 
in all our assembly has been uttered ! And then 
did the Lord delight to come down into his garden, 
and walk in the midst of the beds of spices ; and 
he caused the north wind to awake, and the south 
wind to blow upon his garden, and the pleasant 
showers to descend, for the refreshing of his tender 
plants, that they might grow still more and more. 
And now unto them that had known the night of 
sorrow, was the joyful morning come, according to 
that ancient experience of David, Psal. xxx. 5 ; 
and such as had been in the foregoing deep afflic- 
tions, tossings, and distresses, came to witness the 
fulfilling of that great gospel promise; " O ! thou 
afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted ; 
behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and 
lay thy foundations with sapphires : and I will make 
thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, 
and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy 
children shall be taught of the Lord ; and great 
shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness 
shalt thou be established ; thou shalt be far from 
oppression ; for thou shalt not fear ; and from terror, 
for it shall not come near thee," Isa. liv.ll, 12, 13, 14. 
Thus came we by Him to be gathered into cove- 
nant with God, and to witness the fulfilling of the 
promises of God, in whom all the promises are yea 



160 



JOURNAL OF 



and amen ; and so came to sit together in heavenly- 
places in him, and to feed upon the heavenly food, 
the bread of life, that came down from heaven, 
which Christ the heavenly shepherd did give unto 
us ; who had gathered us from amongst the shep- 
herds that fed themselves with temporal things 
from the flock, but knew not how to feed the flock 
with spiritual food, for they had it not. And now 
we, coming to be acquainted with the power of the 
Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts, became great 
lovers of it, and delighted in the enjoyment thereof; 
having already counted all things but as dross and 
dung in comparison of the excellency that we saw 
therein ; and therefore were willing to surfer the loss 
of all, that we might win him, as it was with the 
apostle of old. And blessed be the Lord, many 
obtained their desire ; they found their beloved, — 
met with their Saviour, — witnessed his saving health, 
by which their souls were healed ; and so became 
his flock and family, or household of faith. 

Then as his children and blessed family, we still 
did continue to meet together twice in the week, or 
oftener ; and being gathered together in his name 
and holy fear, his promise we did witness, accord- 
in^ to Matth. xviii. 20, that he was in the midst of 
us, and did honour our assemblies with his heavenly 
power and presence ; and that was our great delight, 
and the sweetness of it did wonderfully engage our 
souls to love him, arid our hearts to wait upon him; 
for we found the ancient experience of the church 
to be true, as testified in the Scripture, " Because of 
the savour of thy good ointments, thy name is as 
ointment poured forth; therefore do the virgins 
love thee." 

Thus growing into this experience of the good- 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 1G1 

ness of the Lord, and of the sweetness, glory, and 
excellency of his power in our assemblies, we grew 
in strength and zeal for our meetings more and 
more, and valued the benefit thereof more than any 
worldly gain ; yea, it was unto some more than our 
appointed food : and thus continuing, we grew 
more and more into an understanding of divine 
things and heavenly mysteries, through the open- 
ings of the power which was daily amongst 
us, which wrought sweetly in our hearts, which 
united us more and more unto God, and knit us 
together in the perfect bond of love, of fellowship 
and membership ; so that we became a body com- 
pact, made up of many members, whereof Christ 
himself became the head ; who was with us, and 
did rule over us, and further gave gifts unto us, 
by which we came still to be enlarged, and were 
further opened, that we might answer the end for 
which he had raised us up, and had so far 
blessed us, and sanctified us through his word which 
dwelt in our souls. So we keeping still in our zeal, 
and unto our first love, and keeping up our meet- 
ings, and not forsaking the assembling ourselves 
together, (as the manner of some was of old, whose 
example the apostle exhorted the saints not to fol- 
low,) the Lord's power continued with us, and 
was renewed daily in our meetings ; by the open- 
ings of which, our understandings were still more 
enlarged in the mysteries of life and the hidden 
things of God ; so that many through the favour of 
God, grew in their gifts, and had their mouths 
opened, and thus became instruments in the Lord's 
hand to bear witness unto the world, of the day of 
the Lord which was broken forth again, even of the 
great and notable day Joel had prophesied of, and 

M 



132 JOURNAL OF 

Peter bore witness unto : and also they were sent 
to bear witness against the world, and its evil deeds, 
with all the false religions with which mankind had 
covered themselves with in the darkness and 
apostacy, which had spread over them, and now was 
seen and discovered by the light and day of God. 

Thus the Truth grew, and the faithful in it, and 
many were turned unto God ; and his name, and 
fame, and glory, and power spread abroad, and the 
enemy's work and kingdom was discovered, and 
struck at by the Lamb and his followers ; which 
made him begin to rage, and stir up his instruments 
to oppose the Lord's work, and with all subtilty to 
hinder people from following the Lamb, or believing 
in his light : and so with pen, and tongue, and 
hands also, the beast and his followers began to 
war, and [fell] to whipping, and scourging, and 
prisoning, and spoiling of goods, with reproaching, 
belying, and slandering the way of truth; with all 
that they could do to hinder the exaltation of the 
kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, blaspheming 
his light and his power, — calling his light natural, 
insufficient, a false guide, with many reproachful 
names ; and calling his power diabolical, and the 
operation and blessed work of it, which was both 
to the renewing of the spirit of the mind, and also 
to the reformation of the conversation from de- 
bauchery, wickedness, unrighteousness, and witch- 
craft ; even like them of old, who said Christ cast 
out devils by Beelzebub the prince thereof. But 
by this time, they that kept faithful to the Lord, 
and his light and Spirit in their hearts, who had 
come forth through the deep tribulation, as before 
related, were confirmed, settled, and satisfied, and 
established in the life that was manifested ; in which 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 163 

they saw over death, and all men's profession, and 
where they were, and what they fed upon, who 
cried out so against the light and power of Christ, 
which was thus with us, and wrought thus in us in 
our meetings; and how they were but mocking at 
the same that those mocked at, spoken of in the 
second of the Acts, when they thought the Apostles 
were full of new wine, and so drunk : for the high 
professors of our days being ignorant of the Holy 
Ghost, through their resisting of it, blasphemed the 
life and power, and at the best, did but feed upon 
the tree of knowledge. For this I still right well 
remember, that in my waiting upon the Lord, in 
the deep distress and weighty judgment that was 
upon my soul, to see if he would appear and break 
through, and open and give relief from that which 
kept me down as bars of iron, so that I could not 
arise nor ascend, nor have access, although out of 
the deep I cried unto him for deliverance ; I say, I 
can remember, that in the first notable in-breaking 
of the power of God upon my soul, or pouring 
forth of the Holy Ghost upon me, the first opening 
in the same unto me thereby, was, a true discovery 
of the tree of knowledge in the mystery, upon 
which I saw I had been feeding with all the carnal 
professors of religion ; and how we had made a 
profession of that which we had no possession of; 
but our souls were in the death, feeding upon the 
talk of that which the saints of old did enjoy ; 
and therein I saw there was no getting to the tree 
of life, that our souls might be healed by the leaves 
of it, and so feed upon the fruit thereof, that we 
might live for ever. But as there was a coming under 
the wounding, slaying sword that Christ brings, by 
which the life of the old man comes to be destroyed, 



I 



164 JOURNAL OF 

who would still live in sin, and serve it, and yet pro- 
fess faith in Christ, and to be his servant, (which is 
impossible, according to Christ's own saying, " No 
man can serve two masters/' &c. Matth. vi. 24,) I 
saw there was no remedy, — either I must be buried 
by that fiery baptism of Christ with him into 
death, or else there could be no rising with him into 
newness of life ; there might be a rising into new- 
ness of profession, notion and words ; but that 
would not do, it was newness of life I must come 
to, the other I had tried over and over : I saw 
I must die with him, or be planted with him in the 
likeness of death, that is, die unto sin, if ever I 
came to be planted with him in the likeness of his 
resurrection, and so live unto God, (according to 
Romans the sixth.) Then when things thus opened 
in me, I clearly saw we had all been deceived, in 
thinking while we lived in the flesh, and after the 
flesh, and so in the death, and feeding upon the 
tree of knowledge, (which was forbidden for food,) 
we might make such a profession as might bring 
us to reap life everlasting. But I soon saw, such 
as a man lived after — such as a man sowed, such 
should he reap, and not what a man professed, or 
what he talked of; and then I was willing to bow 
to the cross, and come under the fiery baptism 
of the Spirit, and let that which was consumable be 
destroyed, that my soul might be saved, and come 
to possess that which would endure and abide, and 
which could not be shaken. Thus were the heavens 
shaken also, as well as the earth, that that which 
could not be shaken might remain, (according to 
Heb. xii. 27 ;) and so that which condemned the 
evil fruits of the flesh, (as they were owned by 01 
to be in our profession,) both in our looie convex 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 165 

f ation, and also in the desires of our hearts, and 
fleshly lusts which therein sprang, even the same 
light and true witness did discover and condemn our 
fleshly profession of religion in that same nature 
and mind which brought forth evil, or in which 
evil did dwell and rule ; and so came our heaven to 
be shaken, and our covering and garment to be 
taken away, and we left comfortless and naked, des- 
titute and without a habitation. And then we saw 
our sacrificing; and our sinning to be alike in the 
sight of God ; for our prayers were rejected, and 
all loathed, because both were done in one nature 
and from one and the same seed and corrupt heart ; 
and, therefore, it came to be with us as with Judah of 
old, as may be read Isa. i. and Isa. lxvi. 3. where 
the Lord told Judah, their killing an ox, their 
sacrificing a lamb, their offering an oblation and 
burning incense, was as the slaying of a man, cut- 
ting off a dog's neck, offering swine's blood, and 
blessing an idol. And thus we saw, for want of 
righteousness, and keeping the commandments of 
the Lord, and forsaking of our own ways^ and that 
which was evil, our religion was loathed by the 
Lord, and we rejected in all our doings, and left in 
desolation and barrenness ; for whatever we might 
pretend, that true saying must stand, a good tree 
cannot bring forth bad fruit, nor a bad tree good 
fruit ; the tree is known by its fruit. 

Thus things opened wonderfully in us, and 
we saw not only common sins which all confess 
so to be, (though they live in them,) but also 
the hypocrisy and sinfulness of the professors of 
religion, even in their religion, which was per- 
formed out of the true spirit of grace and life, which 
in the mystery is the salt that every gospel sacrifice 



166 JOURNAL OF 

is to be seasoned withal, according to the example 
in the figure. Therefore were we commanded to 
withdraw, and be separated in our worship, and to 
wait to have our hearts sanctified, and the spirit of 
our minds renewed, that we might come before him 
with prepared vessels : for we soon learned to see 
this, that it must be true in the substance, as in 
the figure ; all the vessels of the tabernacle were to 
be sanctified, consecrated, or made holy. Therefore 
did we come out from among such in their worship, 
who lived in uncleanness, and pleaded for sin, which 
made unholy ; and we met together, and waited 
together in silence : it may be sometimes not a 
word [was uttered] in our meetings for months ; 
but every one that was faithful, waited upon the 
living word in our own hearts, to know sanctifica- 
tion thereby, and a thorough cleansing and renew- 
ing of our hearts and inward man : and being; 
cleansed and made meet, we came to have a great 
delight in waiting upon the word in our hearts, for 
the milk thereof, which Peter speaks of, 1 Pet. ii. 2; 
in our so waiting, we received the milk, or virtue 
thereof, and grew thereby, and were fed with the 
heavenly food that rightly nourished our souls ; and 
so we came to receive more and more of the Spirit 
of grace and life from Christ our Saviour, who is 
full of it, in whom the fulness dwells ; and in the 
power thereof we worshipped the Father, who is a 
Spirit, and we waited upon the teachings of his grace 
in our hearts ; and he taught us thereby to deny 
ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live righte- 
ously, godly, and soberly in this present evil world. 
Thus we came to know the true teacher, which 
the saints of old did witness, as saith the Apostle, 
Titus ii. 12, and therefore wanted not a teacher, nor 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 



167 



true divine instructions, though we had left the 
hireling-priests, and also other high-flown notion- 
ists, and sat down together in silence ; for this was 
our desire, to have all flesh silenced before the Lord 
and his power, both in our own hearts, and from 
without. And as we thus came into true silence 
and inward stillness, we began to hear the voice oi 
him, who said, he was the resurrection and the 
life ; and he said unto us, Live, and gave unto oui 
souls life ; and this holy gift which he hath given, 
has been in us as a well of water springing up into, 
eternal life, according to his promise ; and, therefore, 
hath it been our delight all along to wait upon it, 
and draw nigh with our spirits unto it, both in our 
meetings, and also at other times ; that we might 
both be taught and saved by it, for by it the saints 
were saved through faith, &c. as Paul wrote unto 
tiiem, Ephes. ii. 8„ 



CHAPTER II. 

Sis diligence in attending meetings ; — the delight and 
profit experienced in keeping near to the poiver of 
Truth. — Is moved to sj)eah in the "public places of 
worship at Aspetry, Lorton, Brigham — is com- 
mitted to Carlisle gaol. — In 1658 travels into 
Scotland; and in 1659 into Ireland. 

From the year 1653, as before hinted, in which 
year I was convinced of the blessed truth and way 
of life eternal, unto the year 1657, I was not 
much concerned abroad in travels upon the account 
of the Truth, save only to visit Friends that were 
prisoners for the Truth's testimony ; but being 
mostly at home, following my outward calling, I 



168 



JOURNAL OF 






was very diligent to keep to our meetings, being 
given up in my heart thereunto, for I found great 
delight therein; and many times, when one meet- 
ing was over, and I at my outward labour, (in 
which I was very diligent also,) I did in my spirit 
long for the next meeting-day, that I might get to the 
meeting to wait upon the Lord with the rest of his 
people. And I can also with safety say, that when I 
was there, I was not slothful, but in true diligence set 
my heart to wait t upon the Lord, for a visitation 
from him by the revelation of his power in my 
soul ; and as I waited in diligence, patience, and 
faith, I can say this for the Lord, and on his behalf, 
(with many more witnesses,) we did not wait in 
vain : he suffered not our expectation to fail ; — ■ 
everlasting glory, and honour, and praise be to his 
worthy and honourable name for ever ! The very 
remembrance of his goodness and glorious power 
revealed and renewed in those days, overcomes my 
soul. Thus in diligence waiting, and the Lord 
in mercy visiting by his power in our hearts, my 
soul was daily more and more affected with the 
glory, and excellency, and sweetness of it, and with 
the holy dread with which it filled my heart, — for 
that became pleasant ; and then my spirit was bent 
to keep near unto this power, and to dwell in that 
holy fear which the Father thereby placed in my 
heart. And then I came to see what David ex- 
horted unto, in the second Psalm, when he bid the 
kings and judges of the earth be wise and learned ; 
and further said, " serve the Lord with fear, and 
rejoice with trembling." O ! the bowings of my 
soul ! O ! the pleasant dread that dwelt upon my 
spirit, and the reverent tremblings that came over 
my heart, which filled it with living joy, a- with 
marrow and fatness ! And then could I sav in my 



JOIIN BUItNYEAT. 169 

heart with David, I will wash my hands in inno- 
cency, and compass thine altar, O Lord. O ! the 
pleasant drawing near (and that not unprepared) 
unto the altar of the Lord by many, whose hearts 
were filled, and their souls and spirits anointed with 
the true anointing from the Holy One, (which John 
speaks of in his first epistle,) which is the substance 
of what was figured out in that ointment which 
Moses was commanded to make, Exod. xxx. 25, 
with which all the vessels of the tabernacle were to 
be anointed. 

Now when my heart was thus fitted, filled, and 
furnished, as it was many a time in oiir holy assem^ 
blies, with many others, I know, who sat under the 
same dread and power with me, (for our temple 
and tabernacle, in which we worshipped, as chil- 
dren of the new Jerusalem, was but one, even the 
Lord God and the Lamb, as John says, Rev. xxi. 
22 ;) I say, when my heart was thus fitted and 
filled, then did I endeavour to keep down my spirit , 
to the meltings of it ; and great was the care of 
my soul, that I might in no ways miss nor abuse this 
power, nor let up a wrong thing into my mind, 
to be betrayed thereby : and then I knew, if I kept 
down all that was wrong, sound wisdom and a true 
understanding would be grown into, even of those 
mysteries that the world was ignorant of; for the 
Son of God being come, it was he that did give the 
understanding, to know him that was true, as John 
said of old, in his first Epistle, and he was made unto 
us wisdom, as Paul said, 1 Cor. i. 30. So I often 
observed, and that with great care and diligence, 
how it was with my own spirit in those blessed and 
pleasant seasons, wherein the Lord did so wonder- 
fully appear amongst us, and filled our hearts with 
the glorious majesty of his power, whether [my 



170 



JOUB.VAL OF 






spirit] was subject, as it ought to be, or no : for I 
clearly saw the enemy might beguile, and lead up 
into the heights, and into pride and vain-glorying in 
that, which the soul migfht soon be deprived of, if 
it kept not humble ; for it is the humble the Lord 
teacheth, and the meek he guides in judgment. 

Thus, in the greatest enjoyments, I saw there- 
was need of care and fear to be kept up ; for as 
those that grew sluggish, idle, and careless in wait- 
ing for the power in a meeting, did sit without 
the sense of it in a dead, dry, barren state ; even 
so such as were not diligent to keep low, humble, 
and tender, and so to mind the nature of the work- 
ing of the power, and the state of their own spirits 
under the power's exercise, and also to watch 
against the enemy's subtilty, (who lays in wait to 
betray,) these might easily be led aside out of the 
way of the power by the stranger, even while the 
power was working, and joy was in the heart. 
, Thus for want of true fear and care, might the 
soul come into a loss ere it be aware ; and I believe 
some have so done, and can scarcely find the rea- 
son of it. Great is the mystery of godliness, it 
may truly be said, even the great mystery which 
Paul writes of in the first of Colossians, H Christ 
in you the hope of glory;" and as he is there, 
great is the mystery of his working by his Spirit, to 
the opening and clearing of the understandings of 
all who rightly wait upon him. It is the soul 
which is in the sanctification and oneness with the 
life and true unction, that comes to be a priest, and 
so of the royal priesthood, chosen and elected in 
God's covenant, and that comes rightly and law- 
fully to eat of those holy things, and so to partake 
of the sanctified holy food. This I did observe ; 
and therefore the stranger is not to come nigh ; and 






JOHN BURNYEAT. 171 

this was signified in the figure — " The stranger was 
not to eat of the passover," Exod. xii. 43; and the 
command of God was to Aaron by Moses, " That 
no stranger should eat of the holy things/' &c, 
Lev. xxii. 10. 

And again Solomon saith, " The heart knoweth 
his own bitterness, and a stranger doth not in- 
termeddle with his joy/' Prov. xiv. 10. Much 
might be said further, but this is the matter, — it is 
wisdom for the heart, that hath known its own bit- 
terness in the judgment and distress, and through 
it hath come to peace and joy, to keep therein and 
not to let that which would have no share with it, 
come to intermeddle with the joy ; for if it do, it 
will soon overthrow the joy of the soul, and bring 
to another state ; and then it will have no more 
pity in the day of distress, than the Jews had of 
Judas, when they bade him to look to it, what was 
that to them, after he had betrayed his master. 

I continued, as I have said before, for these 
four years, mostly following my outward call- 
ing, and attending and waiting upon the Lord in 
the workings of his holy power in my heart, both 
in meetings and at other times, wherever I was, or 
whatever I had to do ; for I found, that as my heart 
was kept near the power, it kept me tender, soft, 
and living : and besides I found, as I was diligent 
in eyeing of it, there was a constant sweet stream, 
that ran softly in my soul, of divine peace, pleasure, 
and joy, which far exceeded all other delights and 
satisfactions ; and this became the great engager 
of my soul to watch with such diligence, for I 
found the love of God to constrain. And further- 
more, I observed, that if I neglected it, or let my 
mind out after anything else more than I ought, 



172 



JOURNAL OF 



and so forgot this, I began to be like a stranger; 
and I saw that I soon might lose my interest in these 
riches, and treasure, and the true common-wealth 
of God's spiritual Israel, which Christ had pur- 
chased for me, and given me the earnest of to in- 
herit. Thus being mindful of the opening wisdom 
of God, which was from above, and heavenly, and 
not from below, earthly, I was preserved, and 
helped, and succoured in the needful time. And 
because of the blessings and rich mercies of the 
Lord which my soul enjoyed, I was willing to serve 
him in what I might ; and willingly received upon 
me a share of that concern which became proper 
for me, with others, to take upon us in the church 5 
that I might be helpful in all necessary things. 

Thus I went on in the holy fellowship of the 
gospel of life and salvation, with the rest of my 
brethren and sisters; and many joyful days we 
had together in the power of the Holy Ghost, 
which was richly and graciously continued amongst 
us, and daily poured out upon us ; so that we still 
grew in favour with God, and in unitv one with 
another, and received daily strength from the 
Lord, and an increase of his Divine wisdom and 
Spirit, which did greatly comfort us. And in this 
our pleasant state I do well remember, my heart 
was satisfied, and settled into content, where I was 
willing to abide. But the Lord who had so dealt 
by me in mercy, as I have said, began to stir in my 
heart by his Spirit to arise, and go forth in the 
strength of his word, and declare against the hire- 
lings who fed themselves and not the people, and 
who kept the people ignorant of those good things 
of which he had made me and others witnesses. 
And when the word of the Lord came unto mc 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 173 

with this message, it became a great exercise unto 
me ; and I would willingly have shunned it, and 
have dwelt in that ease, peace, and pleasure into 
which the Lord had brought me; but there was none, 
but in obeying the Lord, and giving up to do his 
will ; this I soon came to know, for I was sure it 
was the word of the Lord : and then I yielded in 
spirit, and longed for the day that I might clear 
myself, and be eased of the charge that was upon 
me; for weighty was the dread and majesty of the 
power of the word of life that lived and, as a fire, 
burned in my heart, so that I could not stay. 

When the First day of the week came, in obe- 
dience unto the word of the Lord, I went to Aspetry, 
the place which the Lord set before me, to speak to 
one Warwick a priest ; when I came, he was 
preaching in their bell-house, who, soon after I 
came in with a Friend with me, began to put forth 
some subtle questions to provoke us to speak, that 
he might have an opportunity to cause us to be 
haled out, and sent to prison; but I resolved not 
to mind his temptation, but to wait upon the Lord . 
But when he could not prevail with his questions 
to get his end upon us, he spoke to the constable to 
put us forth : who answering, bid him go on, and 
said, ' they do not disturb us/ &c. Then the priest 
went on and finished with his sermon. When he 
had done, I began to speak to the people : but the 
priest got away, and the people hurried me out, 
and kept me and the priest asunder, that I got 
not to speak to him that forenoon. So I came 
away with my friend, and thought to have returned 
home; but immediately after I got out of the town, 
the wrath and displeasure of the Lord in his word 
sprung dreadfully in my heart, and a dreadful ory 



174 JOURNAL OF 

was in me from the same, — cursed is he that doeth 
the work of the Lord negligently, &c. Then I 
saw how I had let in a fear upon me, in which T had 
shunned the priest and spared him, for fear I 
should be sent to prison for speaking to him, the 
law being such at that day, that whosoever did 
disturb a minister, as they termed it, should be 
sent to prison. When I found out my weak- 
ness in this, that I had spoken to the people, and 
spared the priest against whom I was sent to cry, 
then was I sore afraid, and my heart was filled 
with horror, and a sore cry [prevailed] in me still, 
cursed is he that doeth the work of the Lord negli- 
gently, &c. Then I knew not what to do, for the 
wrath of God was upon me ; and another cry from 
the same word was sounded in my heart, saying, 
Babylon hath sinned, all ye that bend the bow, 
shoot at her ; spare no arrows, for she hath sinned, 
&c. Now when it was thus with me, aud I saw 
that I had not been faithful, but had missed my 
service, after I had come so far as the common 
above Plumland, I sat me down, and there I 
mourned before the Lord, whom I had so grieved ; 
and humbly desired of the Lord, that he would 
but grant me liberty to go again to clear myself, 
that I might come into peace with him aoain; 
and then let life or liberty outwards go, I did uot 
value. So waiting upon him in this humble bowed 
frame of spirit, the word of life rose in me 
again, and opened my heart, and sealed to me 
that I might go. Then I arose with boldness, 
and went with speed, till I came at the wor- 
ship-house : and the priest was preaching again 
in the afternoon, so I went in and stood 
before him, till he had done ; and then was my 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 175 

heart filled with peace, and I resolved in the name 
of the Lord not to spare, but to speak the word of 
the Lord faithfully, whatever I might suffer for it ; 
for in comparison thereof, I valued neither life nor 
liberty. So when he had done, I spoke unto him, 
what the Lord put in my mouth ; he immediately 
got away and gave me no answer, but I followed 
him so quick, and cried out after him, that he 
turned again to me in the grave-yard ; and then I 
cleared my conscience to him, and a great dispute 
we had, for I did not spare him ; at last he went 
away, and would stay no longer. Then I spoke to 
the people, and did clear my conscience amongst 
them ; after which I came away in peace, and my 
heart was filled with unspeakable joy, and my soul 
with gladness. Then I saw, it was good to be 
faithful unto the Lord, and to trust in him, and to 
obey his voice ; and I came to feel and see more 
and more the woeful and dreadful state that the 
priests and hirelings were in ; who for their own 
earthly gain made merchandise of people, although 
they were defended by the laws of men : yet I 
found the laws of God thev were in the transgres- 
sion of, and so were in Cain's, Corah's and Balaam's 
ways, in envy, and even gainsay ers of the truth, 
and lovers of the wages of unrighteousness, such as 
Peter and Jude wrote of, and Jude cried woe 
against, 2 Peter ii. 15, Jude 10, 11, 12. 

Then sometime after, I was moved by the Spirit 
of the Lord to go to Lorton, to speak to one 
Fogoe, a priest, who was preaching to the people 
in their worship-house; and I stayed till he had 
done : and there he did affirm in his preaching 
to the people, that both he and they were without 
the life of both the law and the gospel. Then I 



176 JOURNAL OF 

spoke to him, and questioned him what he had 
to preach, or to pray, that was without the life of 
both law and gospel ? But after a few words, he 
fell into a rage and stirred up the people, and they 
fell upon me, and haled me out of the house, and 
beat me, and the priest threatened to put me in the 
stocks. So I came away ; and that day two weeks 
I was moved to go again to speak to the same 
priest at Lowes water, the parish where I then 
dwelt : and when I came in, the people beginning 
to look at me, and take notice, the priest bid them 
let me alone, if I would be quiet he would discourse 
with me, when he had done. So I stood still and 
quiet, waiting upon the Lord : the priest prepared 
to go to prayer, but when he saw that I did not 
put off my hat (for I could not so do, because I 
could not join with him in his dead lifeless prayers,) 
instead of going to prayer he fell a railing against 
me, and said I should not stand there in that 
posture. At last I spoke to him, and did ask him, 
what he had to pray with, that was without the life 
of both law and gospel ; but he continued calling 
out to the people, to take me away ; so that at last, 
my father being there, and displeased with me for 
troubling their minister, came himself and haled 
me out of the house, and was very angiy with 
me. I stayed in the grave-yard till the priest and 
people came out, and then I got to him and spoke 
to him again ; but he soon began to be in a rage, 
and to threaten me with the stocks, and got away. 
And then I cleared my conscience to the people, 
of what I had to say, and so came away in great 
peace with the Lord. 

Not lon°; after, in the same year, I was moved 
of the Lord by his Spirit to go to Brigham, to 



JOHN BURN YE AT, 177 

speak to one priest Denton ; he was preaching in 
the steeple-house to the people, and his sermon, 
which he had beforehand prepared, had many 
false accusations, lies, and slanders against Friends, 
and the principles of the truth. I stayed till he had 
done, and then did speak to him, but got little 
answer ; but immediately some of his hearers fell 
upon me, and beat me with their bibles, and with 
a staff or staffs, all along out of the house, and also 
out of the grave-yard, so that the next clay I was 
sore with the blows ; and then the priest com- 
manded the constable to secure me and a Friend 
that was with me, and next day did cause him to 
carry us to Lancelot Fletcher of Tallentire, who 
ordered a warrant to be written for us, and so sent 
us from constable to constable, to the common gaol 
in Carlisle, where I was prisoner three-and-twenty 
weeks.* And when I wrote a paper to the priest, 
wherein I answered his false accusation, and sent 
it to him by a Friend, he would not read it, but, as 
I was told, put it in the fire and burnt it. 

Now while I was in prison, something came 
upon me for Scotland ; but I being a prisoner, and 
not yet deeply acquainted with the way and work of 
the Lord's power and Spirit in relation to such a 
service, oreat was the exercise of mv spirit which 
I went under ; and for want of experience and a 
clear understanding, I was swallowed up and for a 
time quite lost in the deep : where great was the 
distress of my soul beyond utterance. But the 
merciful God by his powerful arm, and healing, 
saving word of life, did restore and bring up my 
soul out of the deep, where it was for a time buried; 

[* In the year 1657. Besse's Sufferings, vol. i. 128, fol.J 



1/S JOURNAL OF 

and he renewed life and understanding, and caused 
the light of his countenance to shine, and the sweet- 
ness of his peace to spring up ; so that I may truly 
say, he caused the bones that he had broken to 
rejoice. And when he had thus crushed and hum- 
bled, and let me see how he could make all things 
become as nothing a^ain, and so hide all sdorv from 
man, then in his goodness he revealed his own 
glory, and power, and presence, and reviving life, 
and so opened to my understanding his good plea- 
sure, which with all readiness and willingness of 
mind I gave up unto, in my heart and spirit. So 
after being kept about three-and- twenty weeks in 
prison, I had my liberty ; and I came home, and 
followed my outward calling that summer, and 
grew more and more into the understanding of the 
mind and will of the Lord, in that which I had a 
sight of while I was in prison. And keeping to 
meetings, and waiting upon the Lord in a true 
travail of spirit, after more acquaintance with him, 
and more enjoyment of his power and word, I grew 
not only into an understanding, but also into a 
degree of strength and ability tit to answer that 
service, which the Lord had called me unto. 

And so then, in the faith that stood in God's 
power, about the beginning of the Eighth month, 
1658, I took my journey into Scotland ; and tra- 
velled in that nation about three months, and was 
both in the north and west of it, as far north as 
Aberdeen, and back again to Edinburgh, and so 
down west to Linlithgow, Hamilton, Ayr, and as 
far as Port-Patrick ; and back to Ayr and Douglas : 
and our service was at their steeple-houses and 
markets, and other places, where we met with 
people; and sometimes at Friends' meetings, where 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 179 

there were any. Our work was, to call people to 
repentance, out of their lifeless hypocritical profes- 
sion and dead formalities, wherein they were settled 
in the ignorance of the true and living God; and 
so to turn them unto the true light of Christ Jesus 
in their hearts ; that therein they might come to know 
the power of God, and so come to know remission of 
sins, and receive an inheritance amongst the sancti- 
fied. Being thus clear of that nation, we returned 
into England, and came over the water to Bowstead- 
hill the first day of the Eleventh month 1658. 

After my return home, I followed my calling or 
trade again from that time until the Third month, 
1659; and then I took shipping for Ireland, accord- 
ing to what had been opened unto me in the truth, 
when I was in Scotland; [which opening] grew 
mightily in me through the strength of the power 
and word of life, while I stayed at my calling at 
home, and kept to meetings. For the Lord often 
filled and enriched my heart and soul with his glo- 
rious power, and so sanctified and prepared me for 
that which he set before me : for often in spirit was 
I carried thither, and had it sealed unto me, that it 
was my place to go into that nation to serve the 
Lord, and bear witness unto the Truth, ar.d call 
people to repentance, and hold forth the way of life 
and salvation unto them. So I waited till the full 
season came, according to the blessed counsel of 
God, in which I found his leading power with me, 
and to go before me ; and at the time aforesaid, I 
took shipping at Whitehaven, and landed at Duna- 
cadee [Donaghadee] in the north of Ireland^ and 
travelled to Lisburn, and so up to Lurgan, and 
to Kilmore in the county of Armagh, and so up 
and down in the north for some time amongst 
n2 



180 JOURNAL OF 

Friends, and I had meetings. And many people 
came to meetings, and many were convinced and 
turned to God from the evil and vanity of their 
ways. From thence I travelled to Dublin, and 
thence to Mountmellick, and so forward to Kilkenny, 
and to Caperqueen, and Tullow, and so to Cork and 
Bandon ; and back to Cork, and then to Youghal, 
Waterford, Ross, and to Wexford : and I had 
meetings along as I travelled ; and according to 
that ability I received of God, I was faithful and 
preached the truth and true faith of Jesus. From 
Wexford I came to Carlow and Mountmellick, and 
so into the north, where I spent some time. 

Having gone through [the country,] and in the 
fear of God published his name and truth, as I had 
opportunity, I was willing to return home to Eng- 
land ; and for that end as I intended, came down 
to Carrickfergus ; but before I got thither, it came 
upon me that I should return back again to Lurgan 
and Kilmore, and from thence to Londonderry. 
So I sent word to appoint a meeting at Lurgan ; 
and went on to Carrickfergus, and got a meeting, 
where there were many people at it ; I cleared my- 
self unto them in the fear of the Lord, and then 
returned to Lurgan, as I had appointed. There I 
met with Robert Lodge, newly come out of England, 
who had something in his heart also to go to Lon- 
donderry ; this was about or near the beginning of 
the Seventh month 1659. So Robert Lodge and 
I became concerned in one work, service, and travel 
together, and were truly united in spirit, in the 
unity of the faith and life of Christ, in which blessed 
unity and fellowship of the gospel of the Son of 
God we laboured and travelled in that nation of 
months, after wc met together, 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 181 

not often parting ; though sometimes we were moved 
to part for the service's sake for a little time, and 
came together again : and the Lord gave us sweet 
concord and peace in all our travels; for I do not 
remember that we ever were angry or grieved one 
at the other in all that time. And so we went down 
to Londonderry together ; and when we came there, 
were soon discovered what we were, and then the 
people were unwilling to receive us, or let us have 
lodging for our money. We were at their great 
steeple-house on the First day, and had a large time 
among the people to declare the Truth : but at last 
the major sent his officers, who would not suffer us 
to stay any longer, but forced us out of the city, 
and down to the boat, and commanded the boatman 
to carry us over, and not to bring us back again. 
So being clear, we took our journey towards Cole- 
raine, and then to the Grange, and so to Antrim, 
and to Lurgan, and so among Friends in the 
north. And after some time we took our journey 
into the south, and travelled through a great part 
of the nation, as to Dublin, Mountmellick, and 
to Athlone, and Galway, Limerick, Cork, and 
Bandon, and so through the south, and again into 
the north. Thus we spent our time with dili- 
gent labour and hard travel, often in cold, hunger, 
and hardships in that country, which then was in 
many parts uninhabited: and we were in prison 
several times ; once in Armagh, once in Dublin, 
twice in Cork; besides other abuses we received 
from many, because of our testimony which we had 
to bear for the Lord, in their towns and in their 
steeple-houses, and against their hireling priests, 
which sought their rewards, and loved the wages 
of unrighteousness, like Balaam ; and worse than 



182 JOURNAL OF 

he, forced it from the people, like the sons of Eli, 
whose sin was very great, 1 Sam. ii. 16, 17. 

Having travelled and laboured in the gospel 
together for twelve months, and many being con- 
vinced and gathered to the Truth, we were clear of 
our service there, and in the Seventh month 1660, 
we took shipping at Carrickfergus, and intended 
for Whitehaven in England ; but by contrary wind 
we were driven to Kirkowbry in Scotland, and from 
thence came over-land into Cumberland, and to 
Cockermouth. I again returned to my outward 
calling, and followed that, and kept diligently to 
meetings ; for it was still my delight so to do, and 
there to be diligent in waiting upon the Lord ; for 
I always found that therein I received an increase 
of strength, life, and wisdom from the Lord. And 
as I found any motion upon me from the Lord to 
go to any meeting abroad, either in our country or 
any other, I went and cleared myself, as the Lord 
gave ability ; and returned again to my calling, 
and so to our own meeting, where I delighted to 
wait in silence upon the Lord : for I loved that 
much, because I found an inward growth thereby, 
through the teachings and openings of his Spirit in 
my heart ; and when something did open in me to 
speak in our meeting, I gave up for the most part, 
though sometimes ready to quench through back- 
wardness, but that was hurtful ; but I grew over it 
by degrees, and increased in faith and holy confi- 
dence more and more. 






JOHN BURNYEAT 183 



CHAPTER III. 

1662. — Proceeds for London by Yorkshire, but is 
imprisoned at Rip on fourteen weeks. — In 1664 
sails for Barbadoes. — John Perrot's notions. — 
Visits Virginia j and New England; — in 1667 
returns to Barbadoes, and thence to England; 
travels into various countries. 

From the Seventh month 1660, to about the First 
or Second month 1662, I was very much at home 
at my calling ; and then I was moved of the Lord 
to go to London to see George Fox, and others of 
the elders ; and to acquaint him with what was 
upon me from the Lord to go to America, which 
came weightily upon me when I was in Ireland, so 
that I had a great travail in spirit and deep exercise 
in mind before I gave up. But when I had given up 
inthel)elief that it was the word of the Lord to me, and 
submitted unto his will, the weight and exercise was 
removed ; and I was with my former openness again 
restored into my service, and no more remained but 
a remembrance of the prophecy or opening which I 
had received, and faith in the word, which I was 
satisfied was sure for ever. And therein I rested 
as to that matter, until the time aforesaid, when it 
came upon me to go and acquaint G. F. and also Ed. 
Burrough, who were then at London, and Richard 
Hubberthorne ; for I loved to have the counsel and 
countenance of my elder brethren, who were in 
Christ before me. Then I returned through York- 



184 JOURNAL OF 

shire home, and had some meetings, as I came 
along. I stayed at home but a little time, and was 
moved to go again into Yorkshire, and went to 

CO ' 

divers meetings to visit Friends. Being, as I 
thought, clear to return home, I came to Ripon to 
see some Friends, who were then prisoners for meet- 
ing together to worship God ; and going into the 
prison to see them, and in the love of God speaking 
some words of exhortation unto them, the gaoler 
took me, and had me to a house in the town, where 
the mayor and the chancellor and several of the 
aldermen were together. Then the chancellor 
chiefly took in hand to examine me, and sought to 
ensnare me, that he might get occasion to commit 
me to prison : first, he would have my going to 
prison to my Friends to be an offence; but I pleaded 
in so doing I had broken no law. Then he said, I 
spoke in prison ; I answered, there was no law that 
forbid us to speak to our Friends, when we came to 
visit them. Then he asked me, when was I at 
church, and when I took the sacrament according 
to the laws of England ? I answered, I knew no 
law I had broken, nor evil I had done to any man ; 
if any man had evil against me, let him bear wit- 
ness of the evil. Then he began to be in a rage, 

O O " 

and said he would have an answer ere we had 
done, &c. But when he could not get an advan- 
tage that way, he reached forth a book, and asked 
me, if I would take the oath of allegiance and 
supremacy ? Then I answered, " Not in contempt 
to the king, or his authority, but in obedience to 
Christ's command, I could not swear." Then he 
commanded the clerk to write a mittimus, and sent 
me to the prison, to the rest of my Friends, who 
were four and twenty before, and there I was kept 






JOHN BURNYEAT. 185 

prisoner fourteen weeks. And because, when we 
sat clown to wait upon the Lord (for we sat down 
once every day together, and with us, many times 
Friends that came to see us,) I spake something in 
exhortation unto Friends, and prayed unto the Lord, 
as he enlarged my heart, that we might be com- 
forted and edified together, the magistrates were 
offended, and sent the under-gaoler to take me away, 
and put me in the dungeon from among my fellow- 
prisoners ; he came at three several times, and each 
time haled me' from my knees, when I was at 
prayer, and put me in the dungeon, a little dark 
room, where I was one time two days and nights, 
another time three days and nights, and the last 
time seven days and nights. There was a bowling 
alley before the prison-door, where several of the 
magistrates and others did use to come to their 
game ; and hearing my voice, they were offended, 
and sent to take me away. So after fourteen weeks 
I was set at liberty, and in some little time I had 
freedom to return home; and then did, as at other 
times, follow my outward calling, and kept to our 
meetings at home : but when I was moved to go 
forth to visit Friends in our own country, or into 
Yorkshire and Bishoprick, I was sometimes two 
months away, or thereabouts, and then returned 
home to my calling or trade: and thus it continued 
with me till about the fore-part of summer, in the 
year 1664. Then that which had been opened unto 
me four years before, began again to arise in my 
heart in that word which lives for ever, and the 
living motion of it began to press upon my spirit 
towards the fulfilling thereof; and then I saw that 
the time drew near, and the season was coming upon 
me, wherein the Lord would have me go and fulfil 



186 JOURNAL OF 



Kg 



his word, which I had yielded unto in spirit so long 
ago. I therefore began to prepare, and set my 
heart to leave all things behind, and give up all 
things else, that I might follow him : and so his 
power wrought my spirit into a right frame, so 
that I could easily leave all things ; and he gave 
me time to settle and order my outward concerns, 
and leave all things clear. And that summer I 
took shipping for Ireland, and passed amongst most 
Friends, and did visit them. 

About the Seventh month 1664, I took shipping 
at Galway in Ireland for Barbadoes ; and was 
seven weeks and two days in sailing to Barbadoes. 
I stayed there about three or four months, and 
visited Friends, and travelled and laboured in the 
work of the gospel, both for the confirmation of 
those that were gathered, and for the gathering of 
others unto the Truth, that they might partake with 
us of the like precious faith. There I also met 
with many who had been hurt by John Perrot, and 
carried away with his imaginations, who was led 
out of the power and from the true cross, into high 
notions and vain conceits, and so into a fleshly 
liberty and ease therein, from the true spiritual 
travail and right exercise, both in spirit and out- 
wardly, pretending to be against forms ; and under 
that pretence led out of the faithful and diligent 
practice which Friends had been gathered into, as 
to their meeting together and waiting upon the 
Lord, counting that a form, which he did lead into 
a slight of, and so caused many, both there and in 
Virginia, and other places, to neglect, or in a great 
measure to forsake the assembling of themselves 
together, contrary to Friends' practice, and the 
counsel and advice of the faithful labourers, who 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 187 

first laboured amongst us, as also contrary to the 
advice of the apostle, Heb. x. 25. He also, in his 
new notion, led many to keep on their hats in the 
time of prayer, when any Friend prayed, and con- 
demned our reverend practice of putting off our hats 
at such times : and so in many things such as were 
taken with his notions, were led out of true order 
into looseness and such a liberty, that the cross in 
most things was laid down by them, and their own 
wills followed, and truth's testimony let fall. But 
he ran out of the truth so far at last, that many 
began to see him and what his spirit led to ; and 
so came to see their own loss, and returned back 
unto their first love 5 and the power of the Lord 
went over that dark spirit, with all the vain ima- 
ginations they had been led into thereby ; and so 
Friends were gathered into their former unity. 
Now because of the prevalency of this spirit, I had 
the greater travail and exercise among Friends in 
that island, and in other places of America ; both in 
withstanding such as were high and hard, and also 
to gather back and preserve such, as had in some 
measure been betrayed, and yet were more innocent 
and tender. 

So when I had travelled and laboured, as I said 
before, about three or four months in that island, 
and was clear, I took shipping for Maryland about 
the latter end of the First month, and landed there 
about the latter end of the Second month 1665. I 
travelled and laboured in the work of the gospel 
in that province that summer, and large meetings 
we had; and the Lord's power was with us, and 
Friends were greatly comforted, and several were 
convinced. But a sore exercise I had with one 
Thomas Thurston, and a party he drew after him 



188 JOURNAL OF 

for a while ; so that both I and faithful Friends 
were greatly grieved, not only with his wickedness, 
but also the opposition which he made against us, 
and the disturbance he brought upon us in our 
meetings ; and great was the exercise and travail 
which was upon my spirit day and night, both 
upon the truth's account, which suffered by him, 
and also for the people, who were betrayed by 
him to their hurt, and were under a great mis- 
take. But through much labour and travail in 
the Lord's wisdom and power, I and other faith- 
ful Friends of that province had to search things 
out, and to clear things to their understandings, 
both as to what related to the truth, and also matter 
of fact, which he was guilty of; it pleased the Lord 
so to assist us, and bless our endeavours, in mani- 
festing the wickedness and wrongness of the heart 
and spirit of the man, that most of the people came 
to see through him, and in the love of God to be 
restored into the unity of the truth again, to our 
great comfort, truth's honour, and their everlasting 
happiness. But he himself was lost as to the truth, 
and became a vagabond and fugitive as to his 
spiritual condition, and little otherwise as to the 
outward. 

In the winter following I went down to Virginia, 
and when I came there [I found] Friends there, 
or the greatest part of them, were led aside by 
John Perrot, who had led them into his notions, 
as before described; and they had quite forsaken 
their meetings, and did not meet together once in 
a year, and many of them had lost the very form 
and language of the truth, and were become loose 
and careless, and much one with the world in many 
tilings; so that the cross of Christ, for which 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 189 

they had suffered, was shunned by them, and so 
sufferings were escaped, and they got into outward 
ease. For they had endured very great sufferings 
for their meetings, and stood faithful therein, till 
he came among them, and preached up this notion 
of his ; by which he judged Friends' practice and 
testimony in and for the truth, to be but forms : 
and so pretending to live above such things, he 
drew them from their zeal for the truth, and their 
testimony therein so far, that they avoided every 
thing that might occasion sufferings. Thus they 
being seduced or bewitched, as the Galatians were, 
into a fleshly liberty, the offence of the cross ceased, 
and the power was lost ; and when I came there, 
it was hard to get a meeting among them. Much 
discourse I had with some of the chief of them ; and 
through much labour and travail with them, and 
among them, to maintain the principles of Truth 
and our testimony and practice therein, I obtained 
a meeting : and the Lord's power was with us and 
amongst us, and several were revived and refreshed, 
and through the Lord's goodness and his renewed 
visitations, raised up into a service of life, and in 
time came to see over the wiles of the enemy. So 
after some time I returned again to Maryland, and 
did pass amongst Friends, and visited their meet- 
ings, and in the First month I came to Virginia, 
and did visit them ; and so returning again to Mary- 
land, I landed at New York in the Fourth month, 
1666, and spent some time there amongst Friends, 
in going through their meetings : and then I took 
shipping for Rhode Island in New England, and 
there spent some time in visiting Friends and their 
meetings: where I had a comfortable service. 
About the latter end of the Sixth month, I took my 



190 



JOURNAL OF 



journey towards Sandwich ; and when I was clear 
there, I took my journey by Plymouth to Tewkes- 
bury, and so to Marshfield and Scituate, and so on 
to Boston, and I visited Friends and had meetings ; 
from Boston I went to Salem, and so on to Pis- 
catoway. When I was clear there, I returned 
back through the meetings, and came to Hampton, 
Salem, Boston, Scituate, Marshfield, and so by 
Tewkesbury and Plymouth to Sandwich, and from 
thence through the woods to Ponigantsit, and from 
thence over unto Rhode Island. After some time 
spent there, I took shipping for Long Island, to 
visit Friends in those parts ; and when I was clear 
I returned again to Rhode Island in the winter, 
and stayed for some time ; for there was no going 
off the Island unto the main, the snow was so 
deep. 

About the latter end of the First month, I took 
shipping for Barbadoes, and landed there in the 
Second month, 1667, and I spent that summer 
there, and had blessed and comfortable service 
among Friends, with large and full meetings ; and 
the Lord's power and presence were with us, and 
several were gathered unto the love of the Truth. 
In the Seventh month I took shipping for Bristol, 
in England ; and after we had been ten weeks 
at sea, except one day or two, being beat off the 
coast with an easterly storm, and kept out at 
sea in a great tempest, for the most part of two 
weeks, we got, at last, into Milford Haven, where 
I landed, about the 27th of the Ninth month, 1667. 
Thence I went up to Haverfordwest, in Pembroke- 
shire, in Wales, where I met with a meeting of 
Friends the same day ; and I stayed four weeks in 
that country, and had many blessed meetings. Then 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 



191 



being clear, I took my journey towards Swansea, 
and visited Friends there ; and I came up towards 
Cardiff, and so on into Monmouthshire : and after 
I had visited Friends there, I passed over the water 
and came to Bristol, and stayed there some meet- 
ings ; and thence I passed into Gloucestershire and 
Berkshire, and so up to London, where I stayed 
some time. 

After I was clear of that city, I was moved to re- 
turn again into Berkshire, and Gloucestershire, and 
so to Bristol, and over into South Wales, and into 
Pembrokeshire, all along visiting Friends ; and I 
had blessed service. Then when I was clear of 
those parts, I was moved to return again through 
the meetings in South Wales, and to Gloucester, 
and through Gloucestershire and Berkshire, into 
Buckinghamshire, and so up to London, where I 
spent some time that summer, in the year 1668. 
After that I went over into Surrey to see George 
Fox, who was then travelling among Friends in 
those parts, to assist Friends in the settling of their 
men's meetings, and also to stir them up to visit 
such as were fallen away from the truth and had 
drawn back, and to see if they could be restored 
arid brought again to a sense of the love of God, and 
so to salvation and life ; which work did prove 
very effectual for the gaining of many. So after I 
had been a little with him, and at Horsham (with 
some Friends who went from London with me,) to 
visit some Friends who were prisoners there for the 
truth's testimony, I returned back again to London, 
and so took my journey for the north of England, 
through Herefordshire and Huntingdonshire, and 
then straight down into Yorkshire; and I spent some 
time in visiting the meetings about Knaresborough, 



192 



JOURNAL OF 



Netherdale, Masham, Thirsk, and thereaways ; and 
then was moral to go down towards Crake and 
Malton, and so on to Killam and Burlington, 
Scarborough and Whitby, and into Cleveland, 
and so over into Bishoprick. And after some time 
spent there, I passed over Stainmore, and so into 
Cumberland, and came home to see my friends 
and relations ; I stayed there but about a week, or a 
few days more, and then took my journey for London 
to the Yearly Meeting, which was appointed to be 
about the beginning of the Tenth month, and I 
was there about a week or two. Then I took my 
journey again into the west, through Berkshire 
and Gloucestershire, and into South Wales, down 
as far as Pembrokeshire, visiting the meetings, 
and serving the Lord and his people with faith- 
fulness in the labours and travels of the gospel of 
Christ Jesus. And when I was clear of those 
parts, I returned back again through South Wales 
to Bristol, and so through the counties, (visiting 
the churches,) up to London that spring, in the year 
1(569. I stayed about two months' time in and 
about the city, and then I was moved again to go 
into Buckinghamshire, and so through the country, 
visiting meetings in divers places, till I came to 
Bristol ; and was at Bristol about the 25th of the 
Fifth mouth 1669. From thence I went over into 
Wales again, and passed through South Wales, as 
far as Pembrokeshire ; and from thence I took my 
journey through the mountains towards North 
Wales, and visited Friends in Radnorshire ; and 
from thence came to Shrewsbury, and so into 
Cheshire, and through Lancashire and Westmore- 
land home into Cumberland, where I stayed a little, 
and visited Friends. Then I took shipping at 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 193 

Whitehaven for Ireland, and landed at Belfast in 
the north, and spent that winter in Ireland in the 
travels and labour of the gospel \ and I had blessed 
service for the Lord and his people in that nation, 
and was richlv comforted and refreshed amongst 
them in the gracious presence of the Lord, who 
was with us, who is the recompencer and rich 
rewarder of all that are given up in faithfulness to 
serve him. So that now none do lose their reward 
under the ministration of the gospel, no more than 
they did under the law in the figure, when he said, 
u Who is there among you, that would shut the 
doors for nought ? neither do ye kindle fire on 
mine altar for nought/' Mai. i. 10: to him be 
glory, and honour, and praise over all for ever ; for 
he is worthy ! When I was clear of that nation, 
I took shipping at Dublin, and landed at White- 
haven in Cumberland; and I staid a little time 
in Cumberland, and then took my journey for 
London to the Yearly Meeting, which was in the 
spring of the year 1670 : and I spent a part of 
that summer in London and thereabouts, in the 
service of the truth, until I could have a conve- 
niency to go for Barbadoes, that being upon me.* 

[* " In this year, 1670, the act against seditions conven- 
ticles began to be in force, which Sir Samuel Starling, 
then Lord Mayor of London, immediately exerted his 
authority to put into execution. "Watchmen and sol- 
diers were placed in guard at our several meeting-houses 
in the city, either to keep Friends out of their meeting- 
houses, or to prevent preaching, &c. John Burnyeat being 
at Devonshire-house, on the loth of the month called 
May, and having begun to speak, was quickly pulled down^ 
and had before the Mayor, who fined him £20 ; on the 
29th of the same month, John Burnyeat attempting to 
preach at the same meeting-house, was taken away by 
soldiers, and sent by the Mayor to Newgate." — Besse's Suffer- 
ings ofFrknds, vol. i. p. 409.] 
O 



194 



JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER IV. 



In 1670, again sails for Barbadoes. — William 
Sinpson — his death. — Visits New England and 
other parts of the Colonial States : — meets with 
George Fox. — His travels and services in those 
countries. 

In the fifth month, all things being ready, I and 
William Simpson went down to Gravesend with 
many Friends from London, who accompanied 
us ; and staying there but a few days, we set sail 
from Gravesend the eighth clay of the Fifth month, 
1670, and came to the Downs, and staid there 
some days, and then set sail from the Downs the 
twentieth day of the same month : and because of 
contrary winds we put in at Falmouth, and staid 
two nights there ; and then put to sea again, and 
sailed for Barbadoes, where we arrived the thirtieth 
day of the seventh month ; so that we were twelve 
weeks from Gravesend ere we got to Barbadoes. 

I staid in Barbadoes six months, and had great 
and weighty service in that island before I could 
be clear. My dear companion, William Simpson, 
after he had been there, was taken sick of a 
violent fever, which was very much among people 
at that time, and very many died ; he was sick 
but about six days, and then was taken away. 
At his death, a very little before his departure, 
he gave a living, heavenly testimony unto the truth, 
with wholesome advice unto them that were about 
him, and departed in the peace and joy of the 
Lord : an account whereof may be further seen in 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 195 

a book written by one, who was with him from his 
beginning to be sick, until he departed. I was 
with him very much, but sometimes was constrained 
to leave him for the service sake that was upon me. 
He was a very innocent man, and full of fear and 
reverence, and ordinarily very open in his testimony, 
and very sweet and pleasant : we walked in great 
love and unity together, for he was a humble man, 
and had very low thoughts of himself, and always 
under dread. He had gone through great suffer- 
ings, and afflictions, and cruel persecutions for his 
testimony and service sake, unto which he was 
called ; he likewise had met with hard buffetings 
from Satan's messengers, and sore temptations, by 
which he had been wounded and sore hurt, through 
the wiles of Satan and his cunning sleights; of 
which he would be often speaking to me in our 
brotherly fellowship and communication, wherein 
we would open our hearts and states one unto 
another : and in the remembrance of things he was 
kept very low and tender, and near the Lord : and 
he took great delight in his power, by which he had 
been redeemed, and his soul delivered, and which 
was raised up into a good degree of dominion, in 
which he reigned at the last, and with great triumph 
departed this life, and is blessed for ever. My 
heart is well satisfied that it is even so : and 
when he was taken away from me, my heart was 
broken within me, and my spirit was bowed down 
greatly in the sense of my loss ; and I could not 
but mourn, though not as such that have no hope, 
for my hope was firm concerning his well-being 
and gain that he had obtained ; but great was my 
loss, for I was left as one alone, as I had been often 
before ; to bear the burthen myself, which was very 
o2 ' 



196 JOURNAL OF 

weighty upon me at that time, considering the state 
of the church in that island, and the care of it upon 
me : but the Lord was with me. and his power did 
assist me to 20 through my charge, and clear myself. 
and free myself from the blood of all men and 
women. And so. through all. being guided by 
his Spirit in his wisdom, the Lord's children and 
people were comforted, and my soul and spirit 
refreshed and revived ; and in peace, clearness, and 
gladness I came away, and took shipping for New 
England, and set sail the first of the second month, 
1671. I arrived at Xew York the 27th day of 
the same month, and from New York I went unto 
Long Island, and visited Friends on the island, 
and other places thereaways, and was with them 
at their half-year's meeting at Oyster Bay. 

Being clear of those parts, I took shipping for 
Rhode Island ; and was there at their Yearly 
Meeting, in 1671, which begins the ninth of the 
Fourth month every year, and continues for much 
of a week, and is a general meeting once a year 
for all Friends in Xew England. After that meet- 
ing:, when I was clear of those parts, I took my 
journey towards Sandwich, and visited Friends 
all along at T< wkesbury, Marshfield, and Scituate, 
and so on to Boston, where I had a meeting, and 
then to Salem, Hampton, and Piseataway, all along 
visiting Friends : and I had many precious meeting. 
and the Lord was with 11 s, and his power was over 
all. From Piscataway I returned back again the 
same way, and had blessed service; and I came to 
Rhode Island again, where I spent some time, and 
then went up to Providence, and visited Friends 
there, and so returned acrain. When I was clear 
of those parts, I took shipping back again for 1 
Island, and landed at Oyster Day. and hud some 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 



197 



meetings : I then went down to Flushing, and so 
to Gravesend, and had some meetings. Thence I 
went over to East Jersey to visit Friends there, and 
had some meetings : and I returned back again to 
Gravesend, and from thence went back again to 
Oyster Bay, and was there at their half-year's 
meeting, which began about the Eighth day of the 
Eighth month, and had a blessed time. But in our 
meeting; for business, we had an exercise with 
several, who rose up in a wrong spirit against the 
blessed order of the truth, which by the power of 
God Friends were gathered into, and sweetly set- 
tling in. And chiefly their envy and bitterness was 
against George Fox, and his papers of wholesome 
advice, which he in the love of God had sent 
amongst Friends ; and in that unruly, loose spirit 
and mind they were gone into, being some of them, 
filled with prejudice, that they had written a book, 
which they brought in manuscript to the meeting, 
and urged to have it read. But I told them, we 
had the papers there, and they might lay down 
their objections, they being there, and we would 
answer them. But that would not serve ; but the 
book they would read : and we sat in quietness till 
they had done. When they had done, I reached 
for it, and by my memory I went over the heads 
thereof, and cleared G. F. and Friends in our godly 
care and intents, and opened the service and benefit 
of such things which they did cavil at ; and I 
showed Friends the advantage that was therein, 
both to the truth and them ; and withal I repre- 
hended their slanders and falsehoods, with which 
they had hurt the minds of several young and 
newly-convinced Friends ; and so opened unto them, 
how it was the same spirit which of old led those 
who opposed the apostles, and endeavoured to bring 



198 



JOURNAL OF 



a slight, and beget a disesteem in the minds of the 
believers against them, who watched over them for 
their good, and so endeavoured to lead them into a 
fleshly liberty to shun the cross, &c. When I had 
cleared myself, and informed Friends of the truth 
of things, which then by them had been objected 
against, Friends in general were satisfied, and saw 
the mistakes which they had let into their minds, 
through the insinuation of those three men, who 
had been chiefly concerned in the writing of the 
book, and in the opposition. And so the Lord's 
power broke in upon the meeting, and Friends' 
hearts were broken, and great meltings in the 
power there were amongst us ; and so in the same 
we blessed the Lord, and praised him, and prayed 
unto him, and they were bowed, and went away. 
Thus Friends were comforted, and the seed and life 
reigned over all ; — everlasting glory, and honour, 
and praise be given to him for all his mercies and 
preservations ; for he is worthy for evermore. And 
so when all our meetings were over, and Friends in 
the heavenly power and seed comforted, and the bad 
spirits and their evil work confounded and brought 
under before the minds of the simple-hearted, who 
were like to be hurt and betrayed by them, and so 
a coolness and calmness raised up amongst Friends, 
I was clear. I then took my journey with some 
Friends accompanying me, and went to Flushing, 
and down to Gravesend ; and when I had visited 
Friends there, I went to New York, and had a 
meeting; and then took shipping for Maryland, 
setting sail the 23rd of the Eighth month, 1671 . We 
met with a sore tempest from a west-north-west 
wind, that blew so hard, we could carry no sail for 
some days ; but at last we got to Virginia, and then 
sailed up the Bay, and got to Pertuxon River in 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 



199 



Maryland the fifth day of the Ninth month ; and 
there I landed with my companion Daniel Gould, 
who came with me from Rhode Island, and he tra- 
velled with me that winter. We visited Friends in 
Maryland, and I went down to Virginia to visit 
Friends there, and found a freshness amongst them ; 
and they were many of them restored, and grown 
up to a degree of their former zeal and tenderness ; 
and a great openness I found in the country, and I 
had several blessed meetings. I advised them to 
have a men's-meeting, and so to meet together to 
settle things in good order amongst them, that they 
might be instrumental to the gathering of such as 
were yet scattered, and stirring up of such as were 
cold and careless ; and so to the keeping of things 
in order, sweet, and well amongst them. 

Thus having cleared myself in the love of God, I 
committed them unto the Lord and to the word of 
his grace, and so took boat again for Maryland, 
and got well thither at last ; but we met with strong 
winds, and rough weather, and some danger : and 
I spent some time more in Maryland, till the spring. 
In the Second month 1672, I appointed a meeting 
at West River in Maryland, for all the Friends in 
the province, that I might see them together before 
I depai'ted, for I was determined to go as soon as 
I could after that meeting. When the time ap- 
pointed came, and Friends from all parts began to 
arrive, George Fox with several brethren, came 
from Jamaica, and landed at Pertuxon, and from 
thence came straight to the meeting. There were 
Friends present from all parts of the province, and 
we had a very large meeting, which continued for 
several days ; also a men's and women's meeting 
for the settling of things, in order that men's and 
women's meetings might be established in the pro- 



200 



JOURNAL OF 



vince, according to the blessed order of the Gospel 
of Christ Jesus, into which Friends by the power 
thereof were gathered in most places. George Fox 
did wonderfully open the service thereof unto 
Friends, and they with gladness of heart received 
advice in such necessary things, as were then opened 
unto them ; and all were comforted and edified. 
Then when all was over, and we clear, and all 
sweet and pleasant among Friends, we departed, 
and went down to the Clefts, some by water and 
some by land ; and there we had a large meeting of 
both Friends and other people. And when that 
was over, we departed, some went down to Virgi- 
nia, and some staid in Maryland* 

George Fox, Robert Withers, George Pattison, 
and I, with several Friends of the province, took 
boat and went over to the eastern shore ; and there 
we had a meeting on the First day, and on the 
Second day we began our iournev through the 
woods to go over-land to New England. We took 
horse at John Pitt's at the head of Tredaven Creek, 
and went through the woods above the heads of 
Miles River and Wye River, and also headed 
Chester River, and lay two nights in the woods, 
viz. Second and Third days. And on the Fourth 
day we came to Sassafras River, and did swim our 
horses, and went over ourselves in boats or canoes. 
We then rode on to Bohemia River, and there also 
did cause our horses to swim, and we went over 
ourselves in canoes. We then came to a plantation 
called Augustines, and there we staid a little ; and 
about three in the afternoon, we set forwards, and 
some of us got to Delaware and so to Newcastle, 
and there got lodging ; for we were sore wet with 
the rain : but Robert Withers and George Pan i son 
lay in the woods all night, their horses being tired : 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 201 

next morning they came to us at Newcastle. We 
staid there that day, and next day we got over the 
river. When we were over, we could not get an 
Indian for a guide ; and our Dutchman we had 
hired, would not go without an Indian, so we were 
forced to stay there that day. And the next day 
he rode about to seek an Indian, but could get none 
to go ; but late in the evening there came some 
over from the other side to the town, and we hired 
one : and so began our journey early next morning, 
to travel through that country, which now is called 
New Jersey; and we supposed that we travelled 
that clay near forty miles. In the evening we got 
to a few Indian wigwams, which are their houses ; 
we saw no man nor woman, house nor dwelling 
that day, for there dwelt no English in that country 
then. We lodged that night in an Indian wigwam, 
and lay upon the ground, as the Indians themselves 
did : and next day we travelled through several of 
their towns, and they were kind to us, and helped 
us over the creeks with their canoes ; we made our 
horses swim at the sides of the canoes, and so tra- 
velled on. Towards the evening we got to an 
Indian town ; and when we had put our horses to 
grass, we went up to the [Indian] king's house, 
who received us kindly, and showed us very civil 
respect. But, alas ! he was so poorly provided, 
having got so little that day, that most of us could 
neither get to eat nor drink in his wigwam ; but it 
was, because he had it not. So we lay, as well as 
he, upon the ground ; only a mat under us, and a 
piece of wood, or any such thing under our heads. 
Next morning early we took horse, and travelled 
through several Indian towns ; and that night we 
lodged in the woods. And the next day, being the 



202 JOURNAL OF 

Fourth day, we got to an English plantation, to a 
town called Middle Town, in East Jersey, where 
there was a plantation of English, and several 
Friends ; and we came down with a Friend to his 
house near the water-side, and he carried us over 
in his boat, and our horses also to Long Island. 
We got to Friends at Gravesend that evening ; and 
next day we took our journey to Flushing on Long 
Island. And the next day, being the Seventh day 
of the week, we took our journey to Oyster Bay, and 
came there that evening ; and several Friends from 
Gravesend and Flushing were with us, for the next 
day their half-year's meeting did begin, which was 
the cause of our hard travelling. And besides, we 
understood, that those who had been so trouble- 
some the half-year's meeting before, when I was 
there, in opposing the order of truth, and reflecting 
so upon G. F. would then be an exercise to Friends; 
therefore George Fox did endeavour the more to 
get to the meeting, which we did very seasonably : 
and it was of great service to the truth, and great 
comfort to Friends ; for they [of that party] were 
greatly under, when we were come, and some 
of the chief of them began to fawn upon G. F. 
So we had our meetings very comfortably ; First 
and Second days were public for worship ; Third 
day our men's and women's meetings for business, 
about the affairs of the church, as usually before. 
Then on the Fourth day we had a meeting with 
those dissatisfied people; for G. F. would not suffer 
the service of our men's and women's meetings to 
be hindered by such a matter: and so on the Fourth 
day, as many Friends as had a desire to be there, 
did come; and the Lord's power went over them, and 
Friends were much satisfied. And he that was the 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 203 

chief instigator of that mischief, to wit, George 
Dennis, who came from London and his wife, not 
being well owned there by Friends, he now began 
to disown the matter, and would have cast it upon 
others, and have willingly appeared clear to G. F. : 
but that T proved under his own hand, that he was a 
chief actor at the half-year's meeting before, and who 
read the book in our meeting, whether we would or 
no. So things being fastened upon him, the Lord's 
power went over his deceitful spirit ; and they were 
all bowed, and the truth was exalted over all ; glory- 
to the Lord for ever, Amen. 

After this we staid a little upon the island, and 
did go back to have some meetings, and returned 
again to Oyster Bay : and thence set sail for 
Rhode Island the twenty-ninth of the Third month, 
[1672,] and arrived the thirtieth of the same, and 
there staid till the YearlyMeeting, which began the 
eighth day of the Fourth month, which was the 
sixth day of the next week following. At that 
general meeting there were many Friends from most 
places in New England, where Friends dwelt, and 
abundance of other people came into our public 
meetings. We had meetings for eight days toge- 
ther, every day a meeting, some public and others 
men's and women's meetings, for settling the affairs 
of the churches in the order of the truth ; that all 
things might be kept sweet, clean, and well. When 
all was over, and the service of the meetings finished, 
I took my journey eastward, to go through the 
meetings in the eastern parts of New England, and 
with me went John Cartwright and George Patti- 
son, and several other Friends accompanied us : we 
left G. F. upon the island, and we went to Provi- 
dence and the Narraganset country. So we took 



204 



JOURNAL OF 



our journey towards Sandwich, where we had a 
blessed meeting, and were comforted and richly- 
refreshed in the blessed presence of the Lord's holy 
and blessed power, which was with us, and which 
opened and enlarged our hearts. When we had 
spent some time with Friends there, we left them, 
and travelled on by Plymouth and Duxbury, and 
had a meeting at Marshfield, and another at Sci- 
tuate; and the Lord was blessedly with us. 

At Scituate some of the elders of their church 
came to our meeting, where were abundance of 
people in an orchard, and stood up and made oppo- 
sition ; so I ceased speaking to the people, and 
joined with them in dispute. But the people were 
so displeased at the interruption they made, that 
they signified their dislike, and would have them 
staid till I had done ; upon which, they said they 
would forbear and come again. So they went 
away ; after their own meeting was over, they came 
again, and several Friends staid with me, and a 
great company of people came with them. Then 
we went into our meeting-house, which before would 
not hold the multitude, and there began to dispute; 
and after some time spent, they always endeavour- 
ing to make Friends appear to be in the error, I 
said to them, before the people, " If I must be 
disputed with as an heretic, and your church 
esteemed as a true church, I am willing we should 
come to the rule Christ hath left, and thereby be 
tried, and that is, by our fruits : and if you can 
prove the fruits of your church to be agreeable to 
the fruits of any ancient true Christian church, I 
shall vield; otherwise I must hold my testimony 
against it as a false church/' &c. But they wen 
mighty unwilling to join with me in that discourse. 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 205 

I urged the proof of our practice by Scripture, 
especially in such a great point as that ; and so 
went on to reckon up the fruits of their church, 
which were to fine, and take away goods for not 
coming to their worship, to imprison, to whip with 
cruelty, to cut off ears, to burn in the hand, to 
banish upon pain of death, and to hang ; for they 
had hanged four of our Friends. All which cruel- 
ties their church had executed upon us, and only 
upon the account of religion. And if they could 
prove these to be the fruits of a true Christian 
church, then I told them I would own them, other- 
wise they were to be denied. The proof of these 
things, or to dispute upon them, they would wil- 
lingly have evaded ; but I stood upon its being 
necessary, that we might be known by our fruits, 
and our practice proved by Scripture, which they 
pretended to be their rule : or otherwise all was but 
vain words, and an idle notion, and had nothing 
to do with Scripture, &c. Then they were con- 
founded, and knew not what to say; but one 
of them fled to that decree made by Artaxerxes, 
Ezra vii. 26. But I showed, how inconsistent it 
was with the Gospel dispensation, Christ's com- 
mand, and the Christian's practice : and further 
said, I would prove the Indians better Christians 
than they, by practice. I instanced the Indian 
king, who, when they had banished Nicholas 
Upshell (an ancient, grave, old man, against whom 
they had nothing, but that he was called a Quaker) 
from his wife and family, and out of their colony, 
he being received by his Friends at Sandwich in 
Plymouth colony, they stirred up the rulers of the 
colony to banish him out of their jurisdiction, which 
they did : and when the Indian king had inquired 



206 JOURNAL OF 

why they would send that ancient man sixty miles 
through the woods in the cold winter to Rhode 
Island ? and understood the matter, he desired him 
to go with him, and he would keep him, and none 
should molest him, or to that purpose ; and 
offered him land and kindness. So (said I) here 
was one that would entertain a stranger, a Christian 
practice, according to Hebr. xiii. 2, when your 
church banished neighbours from their own dwell- 
ings, — an act of cruelty, &c. Much discourse 
we had, but at these things they were confounded ; 
some of themselves having been actors in persecu- 
tion upon our Friends, as Friends told me, after 
they were gone. So the Lord's power went over 
them, they could not stand the trial ; and we parted 
in the peace and love of God. 

Next day we came to Boston, where we had a 
meeting, and many people came in, and several of 
note. After a while, when I was speaking, came 
the marshal and a constable, and many people 
followed them. The marshal bid the constable 
do his office, the constable being a moderate man, 
said so he did ; he was to see the king's peace kept. 
And so he stood awhile, and heard me; and went 
away, and told the deputy-governor, he had been 
at our meeting, but he heard nothing but what was 
true, and no blasphemy, or to this effect. So the 
people staid, and I had a blessed season to open 
things to the people, and clear the truth of those 
scandals, which the priests and others had cast 
upon it ; and the people went away greatly satisfied, 
and spoke well of the testimony they had heard. 
When priest Thatcher heard this, (for several of 
his children were there,) it appears he was dis- 
pleased, and the old, angry, persecuting spirit got 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 207 

up in him, and next First day he stirred up two 
magistrates in his preaching to the people, and they 
sent and took Friends at their meeting, and 
committed several to prison. We had appointed 
a meeting for John Stubbs and James Lancaster 
the third day of the next week, who came after us 
through the country : and when they came, they 
were put in prison, and banished out of the colony. 
Thus their old fruits, like old corrupt trees, were 
brought forth again. 

So the next day we took our journey to Salem, 
and there had a meeting, and a blessed season ; but 
there we met with some, that were gone into that 
foolish notion of John Perrot's, keeping on their 
hats when Friends prayed, fee. So after meeting 
was over, (where many people were in a barn,) 
we had a meeting with several of the chief of 
Friends, and such as were gone after that spirit ; 
and a great discourse we had with them, in which 
we laboured to bring them to an understanding of 
that notion they were gone into, and so laboured 
to open and settle the minds of Friends in the 
ancient truth and blessed power, which they had 
believed in, and received from Heaven ; and then 
appointed a meeting to be held the next week against 
our return. So we took our journey towards Pis- 
cattaway, and had a meeting at Hampton, as we 
went; where several people came in, also some of 
the elders of their church, and they were greatly 
satisfied ; and they went away and gave a good 
report of the truth, insomuch that Seaborn Cotton, 
the priest, was greatly offended. And the first 
day following, he called the chief of his people 
together, and would have a church act made, that 
no members, nor member's children, should go to 



208 JOURNAL OF 






a Quaker's meeting ; and it was to be confirmed by 
their holding up their hands : but those that were 
at the meeting, would not assent ; but one of them 
declared what he remembered of the heads of what 
he heard at the meeting, and maintained it to be 
truth. So the priest was in a rage, and endea- 
voured to stir up persecution. 

After the meeting was over, we went along to 
Piscattaway, with Friends who came from thence 
to meet us ; and we staid there till the First day, 
and had a blessed meeting, and also had a meeting 
with the chief of Friends, both men and women, 
about settling of men's and women's meetings : and 
Friends were very open, and all things were settled in 
sweet unity, after we had opened things unto them, 
relating to the blessed order of the gospel. So com- 
mitting them to the Lord and the word of his grace, 
we returned back again, and had another meeting 
at Hampton, where were several young people, who 
after the meeting gave me a paper, in which they 
signified their desire to be satisfied in something 
that was as a scruple upon their minds : to which 
I answered, and gave them great satisfaction. And 
when they saw my openness and willingness to 
answer, they with reverence did ask me about 
divers things, wherein they desired to be informed, 
and unto all I answered, and gave them satisfaction, 
and so we parted. 

Then I and Friends with me, took our journey 
towards Salem, and came there against die time 
appointed ; and we had the meeting which we had 
appointed, with most of the chief of Friends ; it 
was about settling of meetings to look after the 
affairs of the church. In this meeting it was upon 
mo largely to open the service of our men's and 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 209 

women's meetings, and the duty and care of the 
faithful therein ; and when I had done, they 
confessed the service, &c. to be very good and 
right. So then we desired, that they would come 
into the practice thereof; but when we partly 
pressed it, they would answer little, but held 
back ; some of them, (like Diotrephes of old, who 
loved to have the pre-eminence, and so withstood 
the apostle,) did keep off in their minds, being of 
that spirit I wrote of before in Virginia, pretend- 
ing; to be against forms. For a while we sat 
waiting upon the Lord, and staying to see what 
they would come to ; and George Pattison labour- 
ing to bring them to a sense of the service, in order 
that they might come into the practice, and they 
not being willing to say anything, my spirit being 
very low, the word of the Lord came unto me, and 
the dread of his power fell upon me : so after some 
time I opened my mouth with a lamentation, and 
said, — I was sorry, or grieved, that I had that to 
say, which I must declare unto them, and that was, 
that while they stood in that spirit they were in, 
they could not act in unity with the body, and in 
honour to the head, &c, and therefore after that, our 
exhortation unto them was to condemn that spirit, by 
which they had been led aside, and to wait for the 
universal Spirit of life, or to this effect; and so we 
left them, and they were greatly concerned. The 
next day we had a public meeting amongst them, 
and after meeting we came away towards Boston. 
Then their consciences being troubled, we had to 
do with several of the chief of them, who laboured 
to have that reversed which I had spoken ; and said, 
it was veiy hard, &c. But I told them, I could not 
do it, the power had sealed it, and it must stand ; 
p 



210 JOURNAL OF 

which was, that they must come to repentance, and 
condemn that spirit which had deceived, or to that 
effect. So we left it upon them according to the 
word of the Lord ; some of them have since seen 
it, and condemned that spirit, and given a testimony 
in writing against, it ; — blessed be the Lord, who 
shows mercy, and restores out of the snares of 
Satan. 



CHAPTER V 



The author travels with John Stubbs; — At Rhode 
Island, attends a Jong public dispute, and again 
at Hartford : his other services. — In 1673, lands 
in Ireland; visits most of the meetings in that 
countn/ : returns to England, visits Westmore- 
land Quarterly Meeting; — Case of John Wilkin* 
son and John Story, 1673; — Travels into other 
parts ; troubles respecting J. TF. and J. 8. 

Being clear of all those parts [of the country,] we 
came away strait to Rhode Island, and there we met 
with G. F. who was preparing to go westward to- 
wards Long Island ; so he went away, and Robert 
Withers, James Lancaster, and George Pattison 
with him. From Long Island they went over to 
East Jersey, and so over land back again to Mary- 
land ; and John Stubbs and I were left at Rhode 
Island : John Cartwright we left at Piscataway, lie 
went further eastward ; and after sometime he came 
to John Stubbs and me at Rhode Island. J. S. and 
I went up to Providence, had a meeting there ; and 
as we returned, we had a meeting at Warwick, where 
none had been before : and several were convinced, 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 211 

and did own the truth. And there we had to do 
with one Gorton and his company, who were by- 
other people there called Gortonians, but they 
called themselves Generalists ; they were of opinion 
all should be saved. But they were in reality 
Ranters : for in our discourse they would maintain, 
and say, no creaturely actions could be sin, and 
would have no whoredom, nor drunkenness, nor the 
like, to be sin, but what was spiritual ; the outward 
action was but creaturely. Thus in their filthy, 
unclean spirits, they, like the old Ranters, made 
merry over the reproof of God's Spirit. 

From thence we came down again to Rhode 
Island ; and there we spent some time, and had a 
long dispute with one Roger Williams, who sent us 
a challenge from Providence, with fourteen pro- 
positions, as he called them, but they were charges ; 
and he engaged to maintain them against all comers ; 
the first seven to be disputed on, at Rhode Island, 
and the latter seven, at Providence. We spent three 
days in dispute with him at Rhode Island; but 
he could not make any proof of his charges to the 
satisfaction of the auditory ; for there was a great 
congregation every day : it would be tedious here 
to insert the discourse, if I were able ; but I cannot 
remember it. There is a book in manuscript, of 
what was taken in short-hand of the discourse at 
that time ; besides there is a book in print, entitled 
" New England Firebrand Quenched," &c, which is 
an answer to a book of the said R. Williams, which 
gives a relation of some part of the dispute, to 
which I refer the reader. William Edmundson 
came from Virginia, and was also with us at the 
same dispute; W. E. and J. Stubbs went up to 
Providence; and spent one day with him, Williams, 
p 2 



212 JOURNAL OF 

there, about the latter seven [charges,] and so 
cleared themselves to the people, and came away 
when they had done with him. 

After being some time together upon the island, 
John Stubbs and I went over, (with several Friends 
that did accompany us,) to Narraganset ; and there 
we had a meeting the four-and-twentieth of the 
Sixth month, at one Richard Smith's, and next day 
took our journey towards Hartford. We came first 
to New London, and from thence to Norwich, and 
so to Hartford, and stayed there one day : and 
several of the professors came to us, to dispute 
with us. The next day we rode near thirty miles 
to a town called Westfield, which was within the 
Massachusets colony : there was a man and his 
wife that received us ; and we appointed a meeting. 
But when they heard of it some of their officers came 
to us, and commanded that we should have no 
meeting ; and so affrighted the people, that none 
durst come to us. We had a little discourse with 
their officers or elders who came to us ; but they 
would not stay, but cried out against our religion. 
We asked them if they knew our principles, which 
they so condemned ? Some of them answered, and 
said, nay, they knew them not, nor did they desire 
to know them. We asked them, how then they 
could judge of them ; and withal we told the men 
they were such as the Scripture did speak of, who 
spoke evil of the things they knew not ; and they 
were confounded, and went away ; but they so 
scared the people, that none durst come near us. 

So we came away to Hartford again on the sixth 
day of the week, and on the seventh day several 
came to us, and discoursed with us : and we desired 
liiat we might speak with the priest, and they had 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 213 

promised that we should ; but when we desired him 
to come, he (or they for him,) made an excuse, that 
he could not that day come from his study. So the 
next day (being the First day of the week) we went 
to their meeting, and the forenoon stayed without, 
till they had done. And when they had done, and 
came forth, we spoke to the people ; but they got 
away, as if they had been afraid of us ; and none 
would stay. So we returned to the inn, and stayed 
there till the afternoon ; and then we went into 
their meeting-house, and stayed till the priest 
had done. Then I stood up, and called unto the 
people, and desired their patience a little to hear, 
for I had a word of exhortation to them ; and so 
began to speak. But immediately the sexton came 
to me to interrupt me ; and seeing he could not 
stop me, he drove the people away. And when I 
saw the people most of them gone, I stepped down, 
and thought to have gone forth after them ; but he 
got to the door, and shut the door to keep me in. 
Then I went round an alley to get to a second 
door, but he got over the seats and shut that. Then 
I made for a third door, he also got to that before 
me, and shut that, and so made their meeting-house 
a prison, and kept us in, (with a very few people 
that got not away,) till the people was gone, and 
then let us forth ; so we came to our inn again. 

After some time several of their elders came 
to us, to dispute with us, on purpose to keep the 
younger people away, as some of them confessed ; 
and when we came to discourse with them, they 
would seem to charge us with breach of the 
sabbath, in coming to their meeting that day. 
We took to the Bible and said, " Come, first 
prove a sabbath-day under the gospel dispensa- 



214 JOURNAL OF 

tion, and then prove our practice this day to be a 
breach of it, if you can ; and vindicate Paul, who 
disputed every sabbath-day in the synagogue, &c. 
and then prove by Scripture your practice this 
day, and show where any Christians drove the 
people away from hearing the truth, (for they had 
granted, we spoke nothing but truth,) and made 
their meeting-house a prison? So we shut them 
behind the unbelieving Jews, who gave liberty to 
Paul and Silas : and they were confounded, and could 
not tell how to vindicate their doings, and so went 
awn v. Then after they were gone, came into our 
chamber many younger people, and we opened many 
things to them relating to the way of truth, and 
cleared up things from the Scriptures ; and they 
were mightily satisfied. And when the old, dry 
professors saw that the younger people were affected; 
they sent in a constable, to command all to depart ; 
but they answered and said, they were housekeepers 
many of them, and therefore he had nothing to do 
with them : so they would not go. So we continued 
still opening the Scriptures unto them ; and they 
were affected. Then the innkeeper, being one of 
their elders, came and took the candle away, that 
we might not see to read in the Scriptures ; and so 
left us in the dark : then the people went away, 
being displeased. 

The next morning, J. S. and I took our journey 
to westward ; and our friends that had accom- 
panied us, returned home to Rhode Island. And 
we went from Hartford to Newhaven, Milford, 
Stratford, Fairfield, Norwich, Stamford, and so 
to Greenwich, where we met with Friends ; and 
there we appointed a meeting. The priest of that 
town in his pulpit had preached against Friends, 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 215 

and often had boasted, how he would dispute with 
the Quakers, if any came there ; so when the 
meeting was appointed, the people came with a great 
expectation of what a priest would do. But in 
the morning he rode away to Stamford to a magis- 
trate, and sent a constable with a warrant to ap- 
prehend us ; who came at the beginning of our 
meeting, and took us, and carried us away to the 
magistrate at Stamford. The people being dis- 
pleased, many of them followed after us to Stam- 
ford, and our friends also, to see what they would 
do : and when we came there, many people were 
gathered about the house, (for it was but two miles 
between the towns ;) but after a little time we were 
called into an inner room, where the magistrate lay 
upon his bed, he not being very well. And when 
we came in, there were none with him but two 
priests, the priest of Greenwich, and the priest of 
Stamford, and none were to be suffered to come in 
but the constable, and one man of Stamford who was 
a merchant, as they said ; he went in and out when 
he pleased. So the magistrate asked us many 
questions, and we answered him ; and he dis- 
coursed with us long in many things, and we 
answered him ; for he was very moderate. Then 
after a long time one of the priests put in a ques- 
tion : then I said, if we must discourse of divine 
things, we did desire to be more public; for the 
people were without, desirous to hear. Then the 
magistrate said to the priests, " Master Jones ar d 
Master Bishop, I desire you to go into the public 
meeting-house with these men, and there discourse 
with them before the people ; for/' said he, " they 
are sober, rational men." So we accepted kindly of 
the proffer, and rose up, and went forth ; and 



216 JOURNAL OF 

the priests came after us displeased. But when we 
were forth of the door among the people, we called 
upon the priests to go up with us, as they were de- 
sired ; and so we went up, and they and the people 
also. And when we were settled in the meeting- 
house, with many people, then the priests put it 
upon us to begin ; and so we began with them first 
about their wages, and then went on to our call, 
which they put upon us : and then about the light, 
which they denied : also about election and repro- 
bation, and free grace. They affirmed the grace 
of God had not appeared to all men, and that 
Christ did not die for all men. Several hours we 
spent ; but the discourse is drawn up in a book in 
manuscript, and therefore I shall forbear it here, 
for it is large. The next day we had a meeting at 
Greenwich, but the priest came, and we had a 
great discourse ; which is in the said book. And 
the First day following we had a meeting about 
six miles from thence; then, being clear of these 
parts, we took boat, and went over unto Long 
Island, to Oyster-Bay, and met with John Cart- 
wright; and so visited friendfl upon the Island. J. 
C. and I went over to East Jersey, and did visit 
Friends there, and had several blessed meetings ; 
we returned back again to Long Island, and had 
several meetings. Then being clear of those parte, 
John Cartwright and I came to New York, in order 
to get a passage for Maryland ; we set sail from 
New York the first day of the Ninth monih 1672, 
and from Sandy Hook out to the sea the third day 
of the same, and met with rough weather ; but the 
sixth day of the same we got in at the Capes of Vir- 
ginia, and on the ninth of the same month we camo 
to anchor in Pertuxon river in the province of 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 217 

Maryland, and so got up within a day or two to 
James Preston's ; for the north-west wind blew 
so hard, that we could not get up the first day. 
We then went among Friends in that province as 
the Lord made way. G. F. and Friends that were 
with him, who came over land together, were gone 
down to Virginia, and he also travelled over land 
to North Carolina, and there found some Friends, 
and returned over land to Virginia, and came up 
the bay again to Maryland ; and while they were 
below in Virginia and Carolina, we travelled among 
Friends in Maryland, and had blessed service. 

Upon the first day of the Eleventh month we had 
a meeting at John Baldwin's at South-River ; 
where were many Friends, and other people, who 
came together upon the occasion of a dispute to 
which one Henry Pierrepoint had challenged us, 
who was a kind of fifth-monarchy man. The first 
thing to prove, which he had assumed, was, that 
the Scriptures were the only rule to . try all things 
by in matters of faith and doctrine ; about which 
we had a great discourse : and we proved, that the 
patriarchs had faith and a rule for faith, before any 
Scriptures which we have were written ; and we 
showed, what was their rule. We spent several 
hours in dispute about the other three things, which 
he had affirmed; but there is a book in manuscript, 
which is an answer to them all : I therefore shall 
omit any further mentioning of it here. Some 
time was spent in visiting Friends from meeting 
to meeting, to which many people came at several 
places ; and the Lord's power opened us, and we 
were comforted, and the consciences of people 
reached : G. F. and the other Friends then returned, 
and John Cartwright took shipping for Barbadoes. 



218 JOURNAL OF 

George Fox and I were some time together ; and 
we were up at an Indian town, at the emperor's 
house, who had ordered the Indians, both men and 
women, to be at his house, viz. the ancient and grave ; 
and the young people were at another wigwam. 
G. F. spoke to them by an interpreter for the space 
of four or five hours, I suppose it was nigh five 
hours ; and they were very still and quiet, and very 
attentive, and delighted (as we did perceive) to 
hear. When the time was over, and we clear, 
they showed us kindness, and were going to hang a 
kettle on the fire to boil fish for us to eat, as they 
told us ; but we could not stay, having a great way 
to go by water, and it was late : so we came away 
to the water-side, and some of them accompanied 
us till we took boat. We came down the river again 
to Friends, and spent some time more in travel and 
labour in that province. 

James Lancaster, George Pattison, and I, took 
a journey to visit some people that were convinced, 
up Potomac river ; we ferried over Pertuxon 
river, and then travelled through the woods on 
foot, till we came to them ; we stayed a few clays, 
and had a meeting or two, and then returned back 
again to Pertuxon, and on to the cliffs, where we 
left James, being very weary. Next day George 
and I travelled to West river, and were there at 
their meeting: and next week we got a boat, and went 
over the bay to the eastern shore, and went up Miles 
River to Friends ; and from thence we went to meet 
with G. F. to speak with him, having some inten- 
tions to take shipping, and to go for England with 
one John Ore a Friend, a master of a ketch, which 
belonged to some Friends at London. 

When we had been with G. F. a little time, we 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 219 

returned to Miles River to our boat 5 and after a 
time we went over the bay towards West River, 
and through some exercise with contrary winds, 
at last we got over ; and after a little time spent 
there with Friends, we departed, and went down by 
the Clifts, where we met with G. F. come over the 
bay. We stayed but little there, and went on towards 
Pertuxon ; where we took shipping, and set sail out 
of Pertuxon River the twenty-fifth day of the 
Second month, 1673, and came out at the Capes of 
Virginia to the sea on the twenty-sixth day of the 
same month. When we had sailed but a few days, in 
a morning early we espied a fleet of ships behind us, 
about four-and-twenty 5 then we stopped a little, 
supposing them to be an English fleet, which sailed 
out of the Capes from James River, two or three 
days before us : and when some of them came up 
to us, they told us, it was the same fleet. So we 
stayed, and went in company with them, till we came 
about the Banks of Newfoundland : and then we 
met with foul weather, which parted us one from 
another, so that we no more got altogether again. 
We were six that got together again in our com- 
pany, and kept together, until we came into the 
bay at Galway in Ireland, where we arrived the 
twenty-fourth day of the Third month 1673. 



220 



JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER VI. 

Abstract of some of the letters of John Burnt/eat, 
in continuation of his travel*, from 1673 fa 1690 
— Sis marriage in 1683 — His imprisonment in 

Dublin— Death of his wife 1688. 

From Galway I travelled to Limerick, and so to 
Charleville, Mallow, and to Cork, and Banuou, 
and as far almost as Baltimore, visiting Friends, 
and having meetings : I then returned back to 
Cork, and took my journey to Yoiurhal, and so on 
to Tallagh, and to Kilcomin, and to Waterford, and 
so on into the county of Wexford, having meetings 
in all these places : and the Lord's good presence 
was with us, to our comfort ; — glory, and honour, 
and praise to him for ever ! 

Then I came up through the county of Cather- 
lough, [Carlow] and the Queen's County, and so 
on into the county of We>tmeath, having meetings 
all along, and visiting Friends ; and there George 
Pattison left me, and took his journey for Dublin, 
and from thence to London, but I took my journey 
for Cavan. And when I had seen Friends, and 
had a meeting or two, I took my journey for the 
north, the county of Armagh and the county of 
Antrim, and those parts ; and I visited Friends, 
and had many precious meetings, and the Lord was 
with us, and his gracious presence was our daily 
comfort ; — to him be the glory for ever ! 

When I had spent some time in the north of 



JOHN BURXYEAT. 221 

Ireland in the service of the truth, I took my 
journey for Dublin. And after some meetings 
there, I took my journey into the county of Wick- 
low, and so through the province of Munster a second 
time, and also took Friends in Leinster, and in the 
north : so that I travelled through most meetings a 
second time in that nation. Then being clear of 
the nation, 1 took shipping at Belfast the twenty- 
fifth day of the Tenth month 1673, and the twenty- 
sixth we set sail out of the Lough, and arrived at 
Whitehaven in Cumberland in England the twenty- 
seventh of the same month, and stayed about three 
months in Cumberland for the most part. Then I 
took my journey out of Cumberland towards New- 
castle, visiting Friends and their meetings, as I 
went along: and from Newcastle I went on into 
Bishoprick, and through their meetings, and so 
into Yorkshire, through Cleveland to Whitby, and 
Scarborough, Malton, and York, .and had many 
precious meetings. And thence I went up to Mas- 
liam, and from thence Robert Lodge and I, with 
James Hall, took our journey towards London to 
the Yearly-Meeting in the year 1674, and there stayed 
some time in that city, labouring" in the word and 
testimony which God had committed unto me. 
Afterwards I took my journey into the country, 
and went down into Buckinghamshire, through 
their meetings ; and so on into Oxfordshire, Wor- 
cestershire, and Gloucestershire, and to Bristol, and 
then back again, and to Shrewsbury, and on as 
far as Wrexham in Wales, visiting the churches of 
Christ : and the good presence of the Lord in his hea- 
venly power accompanying, we were often refreshed 
and sweetly comforted together, to our joy and his 
praise, who is our God for evermore. 



222 



JOURNAL OF 



From Wrexham in North Wales, I took my 
journey with John ap John, who accompanied me 
towards South Wales ; we visited Friends, and 
had many meetings as we went along, in Mont- 
gomeryshire, Merionethshire, and Cardiganshire ; 
and we passed on by the west sea into Pembroke- 
shire, there we visited the Lord's people, and 
spent sometime amongst them. Then we took our 
journey through Carmarthenshire to Swansea ; and 
having a meeting or two we passed on towards 
Cardiff, visiting Friends in Glamorganshire, and 
then into Monmouthshire, and having visited Friends 
in that county, we parted ; he returned home, and 
I passed over the water into Gloucestershire, and 
so to Bristol. I continued travelling through 
several counties, visiting the churches, and so to 
London, where I spent sometime ; and then I went 
down into Essex, and visited Friends in that county, 
and returned again to London to the Yearly Meeting 
in the year 1675. 

From London I took my journey to Hartford, 
and so down northward, with John Graves and 
James Hall, to York, and there we parted. I went 
from York to Malton, and so to Scarborough, and 
Whitby, taking Friends in Cleveland, and so 
to Stockton in Bishoprick, visiting Friends, and 
having many precious meetings. I then passed 
through several meetings in that county ; and 

o o » 7 

being clear I took my journey for Cumberland ; and 
being there, I with several brethren was desired 
to come over into Westmoreland, to a meeting 
appointed by Friends at their quarterly meeting, 
which was to be at Powbank. So I went thither 
against the day appointed, with John Graves, John 
Tiffin, Hugh Tickell; and Thomas Laithes, where 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 



223 



we met with several brethren, who were come out 
of Yorkshire, at the request of the aforesaid quar- 
terly meeting. Upon this occasion many Friends 
of Westmoreland came together ; who, when we 
were sat together in the meeting, did present before 
us several disorders in many things, which were 
contrary to the truth, by which they had been 
grieved and sorely exercised for a long time in their 
monthly and quarterly meetings ; so that the spirits 
of a loose company were set at liberty, and so much 
borne up and countenanced by John Story and 
John Wilkinson, that the blessed order of the truth 
brought forth amongst us by the power of God, 
was greatly slighted, and endeavoured to be trodden 
under by that loose company, which was thus 
encouraged by these two men, who looked upon 
themselves to be elders, and like Diotrephes, loved 
to have the pre-eminence \ which brought great grief 
upon the honest and simple minded. So we hear- 
ing what Friends had to say in that matter, and 
observing what was charged and proved, we desired 
Friends to give us another meeting, and let J. S. 
and J. W. be sent to, and desired to meet us, that 
we might hear them face to face : although they 
had been desired by the quarterly meeting, and 
several others, to come to this meeting so appointed, 
they had refused ; and withal they sent us a letter, 
denying to come, and disowning our meeting. 

Nevertheless, we were willing to have another 
meeting, which Friends of Westmoreland freely 
assented unto ; and so it was appointed at Milthrop 
the next day. And we (to wit) six or more of 
Cumberland and Yorkshire Friends, did ourselves 
go to them as messengers, and did entreat them to 
come with us to the meeting, that we might hear 



224 



JOURNAL OF 



them and the Friends of Westmoreland, who were 
aggrieved, face to face, concerning those things that 
were in charge against them ; but they were so 
high and so obstinate, that they slighted us all, or 
any advice we could give. So after some hours' 
discourse with them, in which we thoroughly saw 
their spirits to be wrong, we left them, and went to 
the meeting appointed at Milthrop, where Friends 
were waiting for us. After we were settled a little 
in the meeting, we gave an account how we had 
endeavoured to persuade them to come, through all 
entreaty we could, but we could not prevail. So we 
gave a hearing a second time to the Friends ; 
and then we of Yorkshire and Cumberland with- 
drew, and amongst ourselves viewed the whole 
matter, for it was in writing, and opened our hearts 
one unto another. And waiting upon the Lord, 
there fell a weighty concern upon us for the truth's 
sake, and the blessed order thereof, with our holy 
testimony we had been raised up into, which by 
them had been slighted, and scorned, and reproached : 
so that we would not pass it by ; but in the power 
of the Lord God, which was dreadful amongst us, 
we gave judgment against that spirit, which was 
grown so high, and loose, and fleshly, as thus to 
undervalue the testimony of God, and the bringings 
forth of his holy power in the churches of Christ, 
by which all may be kept sweet, clear, and in 
good order. And when we had cleared ourselves in 
the rising and springing up of the word of life, and 
drawn up our testimony in writing, we gave it unto 
Friends there, and so departed. Of the judgment 
given I shall say no more here, because it is in 
writing in many places. 

I then went over to Swarthmore, and stayed a 






JOHN BURNYEAT. 225 

meeting there ; and then returned into Cumberland, 
and stayed there some weeks, and visited Friends. 
Being clear, I returned again to Swarthmore, in 
order to go over the sands towards Wales, which 
was before me. When I was at Swarthmore, I 
was moved to go over first into Westmoreland, to 
visit the meetings there. So I went over to Sed- 
berg, and had a meeting there ; and I had a meet- 
ing at Grayrigg, and then came to Kendal, where 
I met with Robert Lodge, and we had a blessed 
meeting there. The next day we were at Preston 
meeting ; and then I was clear of that county. 

After a little time I took my journey into Wales 
through Lancashire and Cheshire, and so coming 
to John ap John's, near Wrexham in North Wales, 
he travelled along with me. In the first place, we 
went to a Quarterly Meeting that was held at Dolo- 
baron, at Charles Lloyd's, for two counties, viz. 
Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire; and we had 
a blessed service for the truth there among Friends. 
Afterwards we went down into Merionethshire, and 
visited the meetings : and then to Mackynleth, and 
had a meeting. We then returned up into Radnor- 
shire, and visited the meetings in that county. We 
next took our journey through Brecknockshire, and 
Carmarthenshire, into Pembrokeshire, where we 
spent some time amongst Friends, and had several 
precious meetings. Being clear, we took our 
journey towards Swansea and Cardiff, and had 
several precious meetings in Glamorganshire, and 
then went over into Monmouthshire. And after 
we had visited Friends, John went with me to the 
Ferry, and stayed to see me take boat, and then 
returned. 

I went that same day to Bristol, and stayed 
Q 



: 



226 JOURNAL OF 

some meetings there : and then I went down into 
Somersetshire, and visited Friends there, and had 
many blessed meetings. I returned back to Bristol, 
and stayed some meetings there; and then went into 
Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, and through Berk- 
shire and into Oxfordshire, and so into Worcester- 
shire, as far as Worcester, and visited Friends, and 
had many precious meetings through those counties. 
From Worcester I returned again through Glouces- 
tershire, and had several meetings : and came again 
to Bristol ; from thence I took my journey through 
several counties, visiting Friends : and so came t< 
London, and stayed there some time in the service 
and work of the gospel. 

Being clear, I took my journey for the north, 
and did not make much stay at any place, till I 
came into Cumberland. The reason of my so tra- 
velling was, because of a meeting, which was agreed 
upon by Friends to be held at Draw-well in Sed- 
berg parish, about the former difference, which had 
been heard at Powbank ; chiefly occasioned by the 
aforesaid John Story and J. 'Wilkinson, and a loose 
sort of people, whom they did countenance in a 
liberty that the truth would not allow, and there- 
fore could not be borne with by such tender Friends, 
as were zealous for the truth, who kept their first 
love, and therein delighted to uphold that ancient 
testimony for the Lord, against the priests and their 
tithes, hire, and maintenance, with other things 
that were to.be borne witness against through suffer- 
ings ; and also for meeting together to worship God, 
which from the beginning had been our practice, 
there being divers statutes with penalties upon us, 
for so doing ; for fear of which, the aforesaid J. S. 
and J. W. with such as had let in the same fear 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 227 

through fleshly reasoning, did shrink and hide ; 
and so let fall the nobility of that testimony, which 
we had received and were raised up to stand for in 
the beginning. And so because of a failure in 
divers things, and a pleading for a liberty from 
under the exercise of the cross, that the offence 
thereof might cease, the faithful became concerned 
to stand up against that spirit, which thus was like 
to weaken or overthrow the faith and testimony of 
many, through its subtle workings in and through 
divers ; who, like those the apostle writes against in 
his Epistle to the Galatians, that to avoid persecu- 
tion endeavoured to bring the believers under 
circumcision, that so the offence of the cross might 
cease, or suffering for the Gospel might be 
avoided. 

Now this difference still continuing, and they 
abiding obstinate, and not willing to receive advice, 
nor bear the judgment in the truth placed upon 
them, Friends in condescension, to see if they could 
be gained, appointed a meeting at Draw-well near 
Sedberg, that they might have another oppor- 
tunity, and be heard what they could further say. 
Then the matters were fully gone through before 
many ancient, faithful brethren, who were there 
assembled; who spent four days in hearing and 
going through the matters relating to that differ- 
ence, which was occasioned through the opposition 
of those to the blessed order of the Truth, who with- 
stood Friends' godly care for the preservation of the 
dominion thereof in righteousness. And when all 
things were heard and gone through by the brethren, 
the judgment was again given in the power of the 
Lord upon that spirit which they had let in, whereby 
they had been led into a separation and division, 
q 2 



228 JOURNAL OF 

and opposition to the truth and the holy order and 
testimony thereof ; and they in the same power and 
love, with great bowels and tenderness, were sought 
to return back again unto that spirit of love and 
peace, wherein the unity and fellowship of the true 
body doth consist. But alas ! many of them would 
not be wrought upon nor prevailed with ; but in 
that hardness the enemy had wrought their hearts 
into, did persist, until they became open enemies to 
the Truth and the faithful witnesses of it, even to 
the writing and printing publicly against them, and 
what the truth doth lead into : and so are become 
such as the apostle writes of, that greatly withstood 
their words, and slighted them : of which both 
Paul, Peter, John and Jude wrote. This meeting 
at Draw-well, was in the Second month 1676. 

After Friends had done what could be done at 
that time, with holy endeavours for the reconciling 
and gathering into the heavenly unity, and making 
up of the breach, I returned from thence again into 
Cumberland with several brethren, to wit, J. T., J. 
B., Hugh Tickhill, Thomas Laythes, John Steele,* 
and so spent a little time in Cumberland ; and then 
I took my journey with John Tiffin towards London. 
In our journey we came into Westmoreland to visit 
Friends there, where we met with some of those, 
with whom we had to do at Draw-well : and then 
they were grown hard, through resisting the counsel 
of the Lord, and had set up a separate meeting, and 
so ran into the self-separation, and grew more into 
the enmity, and stronger in the opposition, through 
resisting the love of God, that so richly was reached 
forth unto them in the heavenly bowels, which, by 



[* See Pike and Oxley, p. 43.] 






JOHN BURNYEAT. 229 

the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, were opened 
in the brethren at the aforesaid meeting at Draw- 
well. For the power of the eternal God in great 
majesty appeared, and in a weighty dread was 
judgment set and sealed upon that spirit, by which 
they had been betrayed ; and by the same power 
and word of life was a door opened unto them who 
had been betrayed, and an entrance in the same was 
set before them, and they, with much brokenness and 
tenderness, in the power of love, were sought to 
return, and be reconciled unto God, and unto his 
people. But this great visitation being rejected 
by them, they grew harder and harder, until they 
grew, many of them, as before said, enemies unto 
the cross of Christ ; and so they withered as to their 
spiritual state, and became as some of old, whom 
the apostle wrote of, as trees twice dead, and plucked 
up by the roots. 

From Westmoreland I went over into Yorkshire, 
had a meeting at Sedberg, and went through the 
Dales to Masham, visiting Friends there-a-ways. 
And then J. T. and I, with Robert Lodge, took our 
journey to York, and from thence towards London, 
visiting Friends by the way ; and so we came to the 
Yearly Meeting in the year 1676, where there were 
many faithful brethren assembled together from most 
parts of the nation. Amongst many things of con- 
cern relating to the truth and the churches of 
Christ, that division in Westmoreland was laid before 
the meeting, and how they were hardened, and had 
set up a separate meeting, and so had withdrawn 
themselves from the rest of their brethren, and 
broken the Christian fellowship : which thing, when 
understood by the brethren there assembled, was a 
grief unto them. Therefore under the sense thereof, 



230 



JOURNAL OF 



and in that brotherly love, with which their hearts 
were filled towards them, were there two epistles 
written from the meeting, one to J. S. and J. W., 
warning and advising them, as heads and leaders in 
that sedition and schism, to endeavour to break up 
that separate meeting, and to be reconciled unto 
their brethren, before they went abroad to offer their 
gift ; and the other was writ to the meeting, as 
advice unto them to return to their former fellow- 
ship with Friends, and lay that separate meeting 
down, and join with their brethren in the unity of 
the truth, &c. 

But all this did not prevail with them ; but still 
they grew higher and harder, and went on in the 
strong resolutions of their wills. Only there were 
divers individuals, who were for a time concerned 
in that opposition and separation, whose understand- 
ings the Lord opened, so that they saw the snare of 
the enemy, and returned ; and under a sense of the 
Lord's judgments, they gave forth divers testimonies 
in writing against that spirit, by which they had 
been seduced, with a confession of the error they 
were led into ; and so returned into the true fel- 
lowship and unity with the church of Christ, and 
were received with gladness. Glory to the Lord, 
who is the Saviour and healer of his people, who 
now heals and saves by his word, as he did of old ! 

J. BuRNYEAT. 






JOHN BURNYEAT. 231 



A paper of John Burnyeaf s, that came to hand, 
since kk works were printed. 

The twenty-seventh day of the Eighth month, 1667. 
— In the morning, as I was laying upon my bed, 
and my soul greatly afflicted under the view and 
consideration of the state of things, as it was among 
Friends in the city of Bristol and some parts 
adjacent, because of the great contention and oppo- 
sition ; and when I was under the exercise, and 
my life appeared grieved, even until my soul was 
brought into sore anguish (at times) and grief, to 
see how hard some were, and unruly and obstinate : 
in this travail of spirit my heart being bowed, I said 
within myself, and before the Lord, and unto him ; 
I matter not, what I be, nor how much I be abased, 
for we must pass through good and bad report, as 
the faithful in former times did. And then when 
I was thus gone down into the grave of self-denial, 
where I thought I could lie and be trodden upon, 
the Lord God signified unto me by his holy Spirit 
on this wise : — Though thou be willing so to be, 
yet will not I be trodden under ; (and further said) 
there are some of them, that are as dead men before 
me, because they have lifted up their heel against 
me, and have rejected my word, and slighted or 
set at naught my reproof. 

And further the Lord God signified unto me, 
that the spirit of Core and Balaam had entered, 
which would shut truth out of doors, and pluck 
Christ from his throne, and lead away the minds 
of people after their own inventions, to worship the 
works of their own hands. And He farther sis:- 



232 JOURNAL OF 






nifiecl unto me, how that the plague of leprosy and 
sore judgment of hardness of heart was upon them ; 
and they had lost their beauty, and were not fit to 
come nigh the altar of the Lord, nor to be in the 
Lord's congregation : and that he would decide the 
matter. And further he signified (to my comfort,) 
there was a Priest to stand between the living and 
the dead, with a holy censer and pure incense, to 
make an atonement ; and the eyes of all the tender 
and sensible were to be towards Him, that they 
might receive the law from his mouth, and that his 
lips might preserve their knowledge. And further, 
there was something also of the spirit of Cain, which 
did appear bad entered, even that which did envy 
Abel's acceptance. 

When I had seen these things from the Lord, 
and it was showed me I could speak forth the 
matter unto the people ; my heart was wonderfully 
broken within me : and I cried and said, Woe is 
me ! must I be the messenger to carry this mes- 
sage unto this people ? And when I was under this 
exercise, the Lord did signify unto me : If I deli- 
vered his word faithfully, then should I deliver my 
own soul ; but if not, I should die for it ; my life 
should go for theirs. Then did the dread of the 
Lord's word, and his majesty strike me down, and 
made me willing to be given up, without any more 
reasoning : blessed be the Lord for ever, who both 
gives the word, and power to deliver it ! 

J. B. 






JOHN BURNYEAT. 233 



CHAPTER VII. 

An abstract of some of John Burnyeat's letters to 
his brother, T. A., of London, in continuation of 
his travels J or the last eight years of his life, being 
all in his own hand-writing. 

Dublin, the twenty- eighth of the Eighth month, 
1682. — I am arrived here safe from Cumberland, and 
was at all those meetings I had appointed in West- 
moreland, viz. I had a large meeting at Camsgill on 
the third day of the week, it being the general meeting; 
it was a most pleasant day, the meeting out of doors 
very large, Friends so generallv came in. And 
indeed the Lord's power was with us ; and my 
heart was greatly enlarged unto Friends. The fourth 
day following I was at Sedberg ; the meeting was 
without doors by the meeting-house (the doors 
being shut up by the officers,) it was quiet and 
large. The fifth day I was at Grayrigg ; sixth 
day at the Height ; first day at Swarthmore ; and 
on the third day at Hawkshead, and had a blessed 
meeting; my heart was comforted. The fourth 
day we had a great flood, which hindered me from 
getting home that day ; but I got to Keswick in 
Cumberland ; and fifth day got home to our meet- 
ing at Pardsay, and was also there the First day, 
where the Lord enlarged my heart to clear myself 
heartily that day. The third day I was at the 
men's meeting, where the Lord was richly with us ; 



234 JOURNAL OF 

everlasting glory be to him for ever ! The fourth 
day early I came down to Whitehaven ; several 
Friends came with me, but the ship being ready I 
could not stay. So I went on board, and the next 
day in the evening arrived safe here at Dublin ; 
where all is well. 

Dublin, the thirteenth of the Ninth month, 1682. 
— It greatly pleases me to hear of Friends in Eng- 
land, and how it is with them this trying day. 
For as we love the truth, and one another therein, 
we have a concern upon us for one another, and 
for the truth in general : and therefore I delight in 
the truth's prevailing, and in Friends' prospering 
therein. The Lord stir up all concerned in their 
places, to be faithful, that none may shrink in the 
day of trial, &c. 

Last week was our half-year's meeting ; many 
Friends were here, and a blessed season we had, 
through the enriching virtue of the Lord's power ; 
and in love, peace, and concord, all was carried on 
amongst us : and so all was sweet and comfortable. 
There is a discourse of putting the laws in execution 
against Dissenters ; however, if the Lord suffer 
such a thing to be, I believe, it will be for his own 
glory at last — in manifesting the approved, and try- 
ing the faith of his people. But we are yet quiet, 
save some that are in prison for tithes. Our meet- 
ings are large and full in this nation, and Friends 
tell me, there is an openness in many places. O ! 
that we may be found faithful, that we may work 
with him in his vineyard and harvest. 

Dublin, the sixth of the Tenth mouth, 1082. — 
The Lord preserve us all in the faith which gives 
the victory, and faithful to God in this trying day ; 
wherein it appears, that the Lord sees it meet to try 






JOHN BURNYEAT. 235 

his people, both in their faith and patience, that the 
approved may be made manifest. We have large 
meetings in this city, and an openness in divers 
places in the country. I have been in the counties 
of Wicklow and Carlo w, and the Queen's County, 
and at the Moate, and Eden deny : and to-morrow 
I intend, if the Lord will, to go forth again to the 
province meeting at Rosen allis. 

Cork, the eighth of the Eleventh month, 1682. — 
I have been through these parts as far as Castle- 
haven, and had a meeting there yesterday week, 
and so returned back again to Cork, to the six- 
weeks' meeting ; where we had a blessed season, 
the Lord's power was richly amongst us. And 
after to-morrow, I think to go toward Youghal, 
and so into the County of Tipperary, and then to 
Castle-dermont meeting; and then for ought I 
know, towards Dublin. I am comforted in my 
service amongst Friends, who are generally glad of 
my coming, and of what they have an expectation 
of in relation to my marriage : but my heart ifc 
fully satisfied, in that I feel the Lord's goodness 
towards us, and in his fear I do delight to wait 
upon him in this, as in other things, and desire 
that we may be a good example. And, therefore, I 
find it our way not to be hasty : the Lord give us 
wisdom to walk so, as that he may be glorified, and 
Friends in us comforted. This I desire above all 
earthly things. 

Dublin, the thirtieth of the First month, 1683. 
— I am concerned to hear of the continued suffer- 
ings of our Friends in England : we are yet at ease 
here, as from those things : the Lord work our 
hearts more and more into thankfulness, and guide 
us in wisdom, to walk worthy of these favours, that 



236 JOURNAL OF 

in displeasure he may never take them from us ; 
but whenever he is pleased to remove them, it may 
be in his love, for a trial unto us, as I believe it is 
with many of his faithful ones, whom my soul 
desires he may still preserve in the faith that gives 
the victory. 

I have been in the north, and did pass amongst 
Friends, and had a blessed service. I am intending 
to go forth of this city to morrow towards Wick- 
low, and so through the county of Wexford to visit 
Friends there. 

Dublin, the tenth of the Third month, 1683.— 
We have now accomplished that concern of mar- 
riage, which we have for some time been under ; 
and blessed be the Lord, he has been unto us a 
comfortable director in our undertakings in this 
matter, to the satisfaction of Friends in the general, 
who were with us. And besides the Friends of this 
city, we had many of the Friends of the south end 
of the nation, who were come to be at the half- 
year's meeting, and some the sooner upon our 
account ; and abundance of other people. We had 
a blessed meeting ; several brethren were with us, 
and (the Lord's power assisting) all things were well, 
and we had peace and comfort, and the truth was 
honoured ; and not only Friends, but many sober 
people were greatly affected with the management 
thereof. Well; the Lord will honour his name 
and way and people, if we be but careful to honour 
him. The Lord is good unto us ; we have cause 
to mind his goodness unto us ; and truly that which 
is chiefly in both our hearts, is to seek his glory, 
and above all things to desire preservation in his 
wisdom. 

Dublin, the fourth of the Eighth month, 1683. 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 237 

—I have been a time in the country, and came into 
the city again but yesterday. I went to the pro- 
vince meetings at Rosenallis, and have visited many 
meetings : I was comforted with Friends in the 
good presence of the power that did attend us. 
Things are pretty well among Friends, and our 
meetings large and full. We feel little of those 
sufferings, which our dear Friends in England have 
heavy upon them : the Lord preserve us tender, low 
and humble, that we may be worthy of such a 
mercy from the hand of the Lord. 

Dublin, the twenty-fourth of the Fifth month, 
1683. — There is a report abroad, that meetings will 
be disturbed and broken up, but nothing is done 
yet ; it may be that Friends here, as well as in 
other parts, must bear the burden, as to the right 
part in suffering; and I hope, it will be the Friends' 
care to be given up in the innocency, to suffer for 
that testimony the Lord hath raised in their hearts, 
by which we have been kept innocent and clear from 
the beginning under all governments : and so we 
never could touch nor join with that which did seek 
the hurt of any. This must be our cloak or cover- 
ing, and this gives boldness, and is and will be 
the ease of the spirits of all the faithful, and that 
which will ansv\ T er the consciences of our adversa- 
ries. And I believe, if some suffering do come, it 
will work for good through trying our spirits, 
faith, and patience, so that many may come to 
know themselves, and the Lord, and his power 
also, better thereby. 

From the Marshalsea prison in Dublin, the 
ninth of the Sixth month, 1683. — We are very 
likely to partake in some measure of suffering 



233 JOURNAL OF 

with our Friends and brethren in England. 
The last First day, the mayor sent the marshal to 
our meeting in the forenoon ; I, was speaking, 
and he commanded me to go with him, which 
after some discourse I did. He commanded the 
meeting to disperse, but Friends kept quiet in their 
places. I was carried before the mayor, with whom 
I had some discourse to this effect : he asked me, 
why we did act contrary to the government, having 
been commanded not to meet ? I told him, we do 
nothing in contempt of the government. But, said 
he, why do you not obey then ? I said, because it 
is matter of conscience to us, and that which we 
believe to be our indispensable duty, to meet toge- 
ther to worship God. To which he answered, you 
may be misled. I told him if we were misled, we 
were willing to be informed, if any could do it. 
Then it was urged, other dissenters had submitted, 
and why would not we ? I said, what they do, 
will be no plea for us before the judgment-seat of 
the great God. So after some other discourse, the 
mayor committed me to this prison. The prof- 
have left their public meeting-places : the bishop of 
Dublin sent for them, and they consulted together, 
and with consent returned this answer, that they 
would forbear. The bishop also sent for A. S. and 
did to him require the same of Friends ; but A. 8. 
told him, we could not forbear to meet to worship 
God, &c. So in the end the bishop said, if we 
would meet, we must take what did follow, fce« 
However, I hope it will work for the honour of 
truth. The Lord preserve Friends faithful and 
valiant : I hope God has a remnant, that will stand 
in the trial : though if sufferings do come hard, it 
mav cause some to turn their backs. Let the Lord 



JOHN BURXYEAT. 239 

order, as lie plcaseth ; I know no better way, than 
to endeavour to be prepared for suffering. 

Dublin, the ninth of the Seventh month, 1683. — 
We are satisfied, that the Lord's hand is in all these 
things ; and doubtless, he hath a purpose to magnify 
his arm, and thereby to exalt his own name and 
precious truth in the end ; and in his so doing, his 
people shall be comforted, and receive the reward, 
even every one, that endures unto the end. And 
truly, as our eye is unto him in our exercise, we feel 
still a ground for a sure hope, even that which abides 
as an anchor sure and stedfast ; by which we are 
held, that we cannot be driven away. In this is our 
comfort, when we seem as to the outward, as if we 
had no surer place, than upon the tossing waves of 
the troubled tempestuous sea ; all is uncertain, no 
stedfastness nor stay for rest unto any in looking 
out. And therefore I often think, I am satisfied it 
is God's way, thus to blow upon the nations with 
the breath of his displeasure, that all the waters 
(for the people are waters) may be tossed together, 
and that they may be made restless, and driven on 
heaps, and into confusion ; and so become a sea, 
into which Babylon, as a great millstone, must fall, 
to make her perpetual end ; even that mystery 
Babylon spoken of, of old, that hath so prevailed, 
and made the nations drunk, and gone over peoples 
and languages, — not one people only : and all that 
partake with her in her sins, must partake with 
her in her plagues and judgments. And therefore 
is the Lord calling out of her ; but her sins, her 
delights and delicacies, many are unwilling to part 
with : and that is the reason, why many stay there, 
that do not think themselves within her borders. 
But the nations are drunk with her wine, and 



240 JOURNAL OF 

know not what they are doing ; for their under- 
standing is lost. O! the sadness of that day ! my 
soul often doth view it : but the greatness of their 
sin doth draw it down upon them, which is come 
into the view and remembrance of the dreadful 
God. 

And therefore may all the righteous rejoice, who 
truly feel redemption out of her, and are come; 
through Christ the seed, to be sons and daughters of 
Zion ; and so heirs of the peaceable Jerusalem, 
which is built upon the rock and foundation, 
which the gates of hell cannot prevail against. 

We are here still detained prisoners, and have of 
late written to the mayor ; but he answered, he would 
not set us at liberty without an order from the 
deputy.* Then we wrote to him, and A. S. and 
S. C. did go to him, and he was very kind to them, 
and told them, he had a greater love for us, than 
any other dissenters because he believed that we 
did mean honestly. 

Dublin, the sixteenth of the Eighth month, 1683. — 
I am now cleared of my imprisonment ; we wrote to 
the deputy a few lines, which he carried to the council. 
After which he sent his secretary to the recorder of 
the city with his order for our release ; which was 
very full and clear, without anything demanded of 
us. I have not heard that Friends in any part of 
this nation are meddled with. We enjoy great 
favours at the hand of the Lord : O ! that we may 
walk worthy thereof for ever, and be moved thereby 
to a sense, of what our dear Friends in England 
still suffer ; and then will the mercies we live under, 
be rightlv valued. 

* The Earl of Arran. 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 241 

Dublin, the ninth of the Twelfth month, 1683.— I 
have been through all the meetings in Ulster, and re- 
turned home but the third day this week. I had a 
blessed time amongst Friends, and found things in 
the main very well. I had large and peaceable 
meetings, which is a mercy I desire the Lord may 
so sanctify unto us, as that we may w r alk worthy of 
them, while they are afforded us : and when he sees 
meet to order it otherwise, we may be prepared. I 
have been but little at home of late, and know 
nothing but that I may go next week forth of town 
again towards the other end of the nation. 

Dublin, the seventeenth of the First month, 1684 

I came home this day : I have been through the most 
of the South and Western parts, and have had a 
good journey, and found Friends generally well, 
and all our meetings peaceable. 

Dublin, the twentieth of the First month, 1684. — 
In my last I hinted, that I was but newly come home 
from visiting Friends in the South-end of the nation, 
and so from the Province-meeting at Castle- Dermont. 
I came home on the second day, and an appointed 
marriage* was to be on the third day, which 
[took place] accordingly ; and abundance of people 
there was, so that we had a good opportunity, and 
the people generally well satisfied : so that a very 
great report of recommendation is abroad through 
the city concerning our order and method, and the 
gravity and solemn manner of our accomplishing 
of it. It is greatly our comfort, when in all our 
ways we honour the truth. I have had a busy 
winter in travelling, and that prosperously : and now 
I see nothing, but I shall have liberty to stay awhile 

* This was Amos Strettel's marriage. 

R 



242 JOURNAL OF 

at home. The Lord is good to us, and orders things 
to our comfort ; and we are comforted in him, and 
one in another : blessed be his name for ever ! 

Dublin, the ninth of the Third month,1684. — It is 
just the time of our half-year's meeting, and there 
are many Friends in town. We had a very large 
meeting, and very quiet and well, and things in 
the general very well amongst Friends as relating 
to truth. We have cause to be thankful to the 
Lord for his mercies and comforts we enjoy ; who 
is the Author of all mercies and comforts, sanctify- 
ing all things rightly to them that fear and love 
him, through the sanctifvino; of their hearts bv his 
word, that keeps, bears up, and upholds. O ! the 
Lord keep all our hearts stayed in this, and then 
will all things work together for good, according to 
the ancient saying. 

Crabtreebeck in Cumberland, the twelfth of the 
Sixth month, 1684. — I left Dublin, sixth day was a 
week ; I have some intent to go over into Scotland, 
but am not yet certain of the time : but do hope, if 
the Lord preserve me in my liberty, to return into 
this country again. 

Graysouthern, the nineteenth of the Sixth month. 
— Between two or three weeks' time I hope to be 
as far as Edinburgh. 

Leith, the sixth of the Eighth month, 1684. — I have 
had a very peaceable and prosperous journey, since 
I came into Scotland hitherto. I came to Edinburgh 
at the time appointed, and stayed here one First day : 
and then took my journey into the north, and J. 
H. and J. T. with me. I spent about three weeks 
there, and in my journey : had meetings, while I was 
there, almost every day, and a blessed open service 
(through the Lord's power) amongst Friends. For 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 243 

there is an open, tender-hearted people, and they 
were glad of my coming ; for there had not been 
any English Friend among them of a long time. 
And being clear, J. T. and I came away this day a 
week, and left J. H. there; we got to this town 
the fourth day of the last week, and were at Edin- 
burgh the fifth day at their meeting, and yesterday 
had a blessed meeting there in the forenoon, and 
here the afternoon : and to-morrow we intend to 
take our journey for the West ; and do hope to be 
clear this day week to go for England, and to be in 
Cumberland to-morrow week (if the Lord will.) 
Hitherto all hath been very quiet where I have 
been ; and I hear nothing, but Friends' meetings are 
quiet all over Scotland, and Friends are suffered to 
be quiet : but in some places they are very busy 
with some other people. Here hath been a pretty 
deal ado about a plot ; but of these things we know 
nothing, nor in such doings have any hand, and 
therefore about it desire not to meddle. Though 
others' doings may bring sufferings upon us ; yet still 
our happiness is, to be kept innocent, that if we 
suffer, it may not be for evil-doing ; and then it 
will be well. 

Eaglesfield, the twelfth of the Ninth month, 1684. 
— Truly in this trying day, wherein we are all of us 
like to have our faith and love to God tried, our 
greatest concern always is, to be in our hearts truly 
and wisely given up, and resigned unto the will of 
God ; that we may therein rest in and under what- 
soever the Lord may order for us, or call us unto ; 
and then may we have peace in every exercise, and 
have dominion in our spirits over every opposition, 
which are many the true travelling Israel of God 
doth meet with in this age. 
r2 



244 



JOURNAL OF 



I got very well through the West of Scotland, 
and met with no disturbance : all was quiet, when 
I was there. Our meetings are quiet in Cumber- 
land : I suppose, I may stay yet about two weeks here. 

Stockton, the eleventh of the Tenth month, 1684. 
— I came out of Cumberland about two weeks ago, 
and was at Strickland-head, and then came on into 
Bishoprick, and thought, I should but have touched 
at Darnton [Darlington] and this town, and so on 
into Yorkshire ; but when I was at Darnton, it 
came upon me to give Friends a visit further in 
this county. And so I went to Durham, and had 
a blessed meeting there, and did visit the pri- 
soners. And then I went to Sunderland, had a meet- 
ing there. And then to Shields, and to T. F. had a 
meeting there. I thence returned to Shotton, and 
to this town, and had a blessed meeting in the even- 
ing yesternight, it being their meeting time. They 
are usually kept out of their meeting-house here ; 
but yesternight we got in, and the meeting was full 
and peaceable : and so have been all the meetings, 
where I have been. And now I am ready to go 
over into Yorkshire, and do hope to be at York in 
about two weeks' time. — I suppose I may be 
there First day come two weeks. 

Grayrigg,the twenty-sixth of the Eleventh month, 
1684-5. — I have had a very comfortable and peace- 
able journey, and came through Cleveland and the 
Moors to Whitby, and from thence up to Malton, 
and to York : meetings have been quiet all along 
where I have been. Yesterday fortnight a consta- 
ble was at the meeting-house before I came, and 
stood in the way to speak with the Friend that I 
came along with, it being just before the sessions. 
He had a warrant, and was to give his return at ses- 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 245 

sions ; and therefore threatened, that if we would 
not forbear to meet that day, he must carry us 
before a justice. However, after we had reasoned 
awhile with hini, we parted, and went into the 
meeting ; and he went away, and did not come into 
the meeting. So we had a blessed meeting, and 
parted in peace ; and the Lord's power was over 
all, to our great joy. 

This was all the appearance of molestation I have 
yet met with : and I have had a very good season, 
and abundance of meetings, since I left York. In 
Yorkshire I was at Robert Lodge's house, and had 
his company a pretty time out of Yorkshire. I 
went to Lancaster, and when I had visited Friends, 
I came into Westmoreland to Preston meeting; 
and yesterday was at Sedberg : we had a peaceable 
meeting, but out of the meeting-house in the street, 
the meeting-house being locked up from Friends. 
I intend some meetings in this county, and so down 
to Swarthmore, and on into Cumberland, as the 
Lord makes way, 

Eaglesfield, the twenty-fifth of the Twelfth 
month, 1684. — I have had a very peaceable jour- 
ney, and visited Friends' meetings very fully in 
Westmoreland, and all was quiet. Since I came 
into Cumberland, I was at Carlisle and the Border; 
now my service seems to be over, and I am pre- 
paring to go home. I was at Workington this day, 
and to-morrow I intend to go to Whitehaven, and 
to take the first opportunity for Dublin. Thus far 
I have been preserved very well through all my 
travels ; and now I hope I shall get home. 

Dublin, the twenty-fifth of the First month, 
1685. — I got well here last night, but was put 
ashore in the north, in Strangford River, about 



246 JOURNAL OF 

seventy miles from Dublin, and about four-and- 
twenty from Lisnagarvy : and being put ashore 
there, I found an openness in my heart to give 
Friends a visit in the north ; so I spent near two 
weeks among them, and had many good meet- 
ings. I am very glad and my heart is truly thank- 
ful unto the Lord, for his preservation through this 
last journey so safe and clear, and that he ordered 
my way so comfortably home ; where I hope I may 
be of service in my place, and a comfort to Friends. 
The Lord our God is to be minded by us in all 
things. 

I find things amongst Friends generally pretty 
well, as formerly, and meetings very large and 
peaceable here and in the north. I am intending 
to go out of town to the province meeting. 

Dublin, the sixteenth of the Third month, 1685. 
— At this half-year's meeting we had a very great 
appearance of Friends out of the country, many 
say they have not seen so many ever before : and 
to our public meetings abundance of other people 
came, even far more than could get into our house: 
and they were very sober, so that the truth hath 
a good place amongst sober people. Though the 
professors, who shrink and hide, we are informed, 
do rail against Friends ; they seem, as if they were 
given up to hardness of heart, and so set in their 
blindness and hardness, that they go on, till the rod 
comes upon them. For they do not lay anything 
so to heart, as thereby to be brought off from the 
evil error of their hard and prejudiced minds. It 
doth appear, that they envy Friends' good, and are 
offended, that we do not fly into holes as they do. 
But as for Friends, they are very cheerful; and we 
have had a very blessed season, and were kept in 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 247 

unity, peace, and concord in our meetings and con- 
cerns : and the Lord's good presence is preciously 
with us, to our comfort and consolation. And 
blessed be the Lord, he is not wanting unto us, both 
to sanctify our hearts, and also to fill them with 
his spiritual mercies, and to contribute of his other 
mercies and blessings, whereby he may make our 
days pleasant unto us ; that with gladness and joy 
of soul we may serve and praise him, who is worthy 
for ever. Amen ! 

Dublin, the fourth of the Sixth month, 1685. — 
Yesterday I came home, having been through the 
south end of the nation, and between six and seven 
weeks away ; and have had a very comfortable 
journey amongst Friends, and peaceable. Blessed 
be the Lord for his mercies towards us. 

Dublin, the sixth of the Seventh month, 1685. 
— I am glad to hear, that things are so still and 
quiet in England, and that Friends have some little 
breathing time of ease from their sharp persecution. 
It is the Lord's mercy towards us : but our inno- 
cency is that which must speak for us ; and if we 
lose that, our defence would depart from us ; and 
then there would be none to fly unto : for vain is 
all help from below. Therefore it will be our hap- 
piness to rest quiet, with our faith in Him; for 
he is able to preserve, who promised them of old, 
he would give them favour in the eyes of the 
king of Babylon. And it had been their safety to 
have trusted in his word ; but in their taking 
their own way, they brought ruin upon themselves ; 
and so will all do now, whose eye is not unto the 
Lord to stay their minds upon him, but who look 
out to follow their own contrivances. I know the 
truth will keep out of all such things, if Friends be 



248 JOURNAL OF 

careful to keep under the conduct thereof: but if 
fleshly reasonings prevail in the unbelief, then the 
eye goes out, and the mind [falls] into the haste ; 
so the patience and long-suffering is lost, and the 
hope and faith let fall. Then the creature can 
neither trust in the Lord, nor stay rightly for His 
time and season. 

Our meetings are very quiet and peaceable, which 
is a mercy we greatly value, and our hearts in the 
Lord's truth are at rest, and that is our comfort. — 
Both there and here, and wherever we are, it will 
be our place to be prepared for suffering, that is 
likely to be our portion for the truth : and it is but 
as it was of old, if any will live godly in Christ 
Jesus, he must suffer persecution. I am ready 
to go out of town to visit Friends in the county 
of Wickldw. 

Dublin, the nineteenth of the Seventh month, 
1685. — I am sorry, that so much occasion of offence 
should be given to some Friends here, by some that 
take liberty there (viz. at London,) by running back 
into such things as the Truth condemns, and so to 
be encouragers of pride and vanity, which will grow 
too fast, to the drawing down of the displeasure of 
the Lord upon man. Therefore I would have 
Friends to stand in that which is plain, and keep to 
the cross in their trades and dealings, and clothes, 
and in all things, that they may remain standing 
witnesses for God in righteousness against pride, 
and all the vanity of the world ; for therein will 
stand our safety for ever. I desire, that we may 
live up to the truth in all things, that the blessing 
may attend us. And indeed, we had need to be 
circumspect ; for every lawful thing is not expe- 
dient; because there may be an unlawful liberty 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 249 

strengthened thereby. The Lord keep us all in his 
wisdom truly lowly and humble, that we may still 
honour him in all things, and remain a people 
through our day to his glory. For if with us in 
our day we let the spirit of the world prevail to the 
overthrowing of our own testimony, what example 
and footsteps shall we leave to them that come after 
us? 

I am full, and could say much, for my heart is 
concerned to hear them, who themselves are not so 
good as they ought to be, strengthen themselves b 
bad examples. For though some may be slow to 
mind that which is good, so as to learn good from 
the example thereof; yet they are quick to take 
encouragement from the contrary. 

Dublin, the eighteenth of the Ninth month. — 
We have had a comfortable season this half-year's 
meeting, quiet and peaceable, and in love and unity 
among ourselves ; so that we have cause to be truly 
thankful unto the Lord for that mercy, amongst all 
other mercies we enjoy from his blessed hand. 

Dublin, the twenty-ninth of the Fourth month, 
1686.— Though the world be full of tumults, dis- 
quietness and amazements ; yet, blessed be the God 
of our salvation, who hath brought us into a degree 
of that rest, which the distresses that are from 
below cannot reach : so that there is something 
known to retire unto for a sanctuary, that the world 
knows not ; neither can the destroyer come into it. 
Therefore our safety is, always to keep our interest 
therein ; that we may have our privilege unto our 
mansion there, and so rest in the time of trouble, 
where no hurter nor destroyer can come. The 
Lord's power is to be admired, loved and believed 
in for ever, who gives us blessed seasons, and calms, 



250 



JOURNAL OF 



and quiets. It is true for ever, the winds and seas 
must obey him : blessed are all that put their trust in 
him. Fears and restlessness do possess the hearts 
of many ; but for our parts, we have an eye unto 
the Lord, and know he hath a hand in ordering of, 
or suffering all things, for ends best known unto 
himself; and therein we rest. 

And I desire, that the Lord by the indwelling of 
his power in our souls, may still so keep and pre- 
serve us in that simplicity and godly sincerity, 
wherein we may always know one another, and 
be a comfort one unto another, in the plainness 
and simplicity of that blessed truth, which saves 
and sanctifies from all unrighteousness, and unites 
unto God, and brings into near fellowship one with 
another. For this is that which sanctifies, fits, 
and prepares the heart of man for every good virtue, 
and settles and composes his nature, not only for 
heavenly mercies, and that he may receive and 
enjoy them, but also for his station in this world, 
and the enjoyment of temporal favours ; that he 
may receive and enjoy them with a blessing, and in 
true comfort ; and also be a blessing and a comfort 
in his place unto all concerned. This is the hap- 
piness and advantage, which is to be witnessed 
through the working and indwelling of that eternal 
power, w^hich God Almighty has revealed in the 
hearts of his people in this day, as there is a faithful 
minding of, and subjection unto it, in the true love 
of it. And sure many there are, who if they 
knew the comfortable effects of it, would not abide 
under its condemnation, as they do : but it is, as it 
was said of old, They will not believe, though a 
man should tell it unto them. 

Dublin, the sixth of the Eleventh month, 1088. 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 251 

— The account of the death of my dear wife will be 
come to hand before this, which is no small exercise 
to me. But though my loss be great, in having 
her removed from me, yet I believe it is her gain. 
For she has been under great weakness and exercise 
of body a long time; however, this I can say, she 
bore her exercise beyond expectation; and told 
some Friends, she believed she was kept the longer, 
because I was so unwilling to give her up. And I 
must confess, it was hard, that it could not easily 
be got to, and that for several reasons : but when I 
saw, that it must be so, I was made willing, for her 
exercises took hold of my spirit. The morning of 
the day she departed, she said to me, she was afraid 
her passage would be hard : I told her, I did hope 
not. She was under a great exercise of pain, but 
bore it with wonderful quietness, and abode under 
it as one waiting for deliverance ; and very sensibly 
spoke to me a little before her departure. So she 
went away like a lamb, without so much as a groan. 
We lived comfortably together ; her nature was 
good, kind, and courteous ; she was merciful, very 
considerate, and of good understanding : she will 
be greatly missed in this place, for Friends had a 
good love and esteem for her ; and I have expe- 
rience and know, that many who seemingly might 
exceed in appearance, will come far behind. 

Dublin, the seventh of the Twelfth month, 1688. 
— We are pretty quiet here at present ; but people's 
hearts are like the troubled waters, — no stay nor 
settlement, who cannot tell what way to go to be 
satisfied, or be quiet in their minds : only they 
who know the truth, may rest there and be quiet 
under the covering of it ; otherwise it would be 
mighty uneasy. I did intend for Cumberland, but 



252 



JOURNAL Of 



at present Friends could not well bear my going 
away, neither have I freedom in myself; so I rest 
in my place, waiting the time and season for it. 

Dublin, the thirteenth of the Third month, 1689. 
— Our half-year's meeting is over, at which were 
assembled many Friends and brethren from divers 
parts of the nation, according to our usual manner. 
We enjoy our meetings peaceably and in quiet 
generally over the nation ; and in most places our 
meetings are large, and many people come in : and 
all the people have [now] their liberty in the free 
exercise of their consciences in matters of religion. 
And as for Friends and truth, they are in good 
esteem, both with high and low. The Lord's care 
and mercy over us hath been largely manifest, and 
Friends learn great experience of the preservation 
of the mighty arm of the Lord in this great day of 
trial, which is upon this nation ; yet to our joy and 
comfort, Friends are carried over it in the faith of 
the Son of God, and have been preserved mira- 
culously, even beyond our expectation in several 
places, where their trials have been very great, and 
the dangers, as to appearance, dreadful ; yet Friends 
have kept to their habitations, trusting in the Lord, 
and following their lawful concerns and business. 

At this half-year' s meeting our hearts were made 
more than ordinarily glad to see one another's faces 
in such a time as this ; and the Lord's power and 
presence were with us, which crowns our meetings : 
and in the sense and sweetness of the same are most 
of our Friends and brethren this day gone towards 
their outward beings in the peace of God, and in 
great love and unity, which did preciously abound 
amongst us in this our meeting throughout all our 
concerns and affairs. 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 253 

The fourth day next I am intending to go into 
the country towards our province meeting ; and 
think to visit Friends before I return. 
. Wexford, the Fifth month, 1689.— I have had 
a very comfortable journey among Friends, and for 
the most part very large meetings, beyond my ex- 
pectation, and very peaceable, viz. on the third day 
at Tipperary, and fourth day at John Fennel's. 
But at Tipperary I had like to have been got hold 
of by the rapperees, and lost my mare ; but I got 
away and escaped, and rode back into the town. 
Last First day we had a very large meeting at 
Edward Gooding's ; it was their monthly meeting. 
This day we have a meeting here, to-morrow at 
Samuel Watson's, and the fifth day at the meeting 
that belongs to Lambs-town. I think Carlow 
monthly meeting is next First day, I intend to be- 
there. 

Dublin, the twelfth of the Eighth month, 1689. 
— Friends, as far as I can have account, are in the 
general pretty well in health, and at liberty, and 
our meetings quiet and peaceable ; and so are all 
others, for aught I know. But many in the country 
are under sufferings, as respects the loss of their 
goods, by reason of the wars this land is greatly 
attended with. However, the eye of our Friends is 
to the Lord, who doubtless suffers not all these 
things to come to pass without a cause, but to be a 
chastisement for the sinfulness of the children of 
men. O ! that all would take warning, to keep out 
of that which provokes him to displeasure, that his 
hand might be removed. And truly, that which 
is our comfort and stay in the midst of all, is the 
holy presence of his power, which attends our 
meetings ; from the evidence of which we receive 



254 JOURNAL OF 

our satisfaction, that the Lord is well-pleased with 
us. And this is that which bears up our spirits in 
the time of exercise. 

Dublin, the twenty-fifth of the First month,1690. — 
I had the opportunity this last winter to go amongst 
Friends throughout both in Leinster and Munster, 
which was a great satisfaction both to me and them. 
Friends are generally well, and our meetings are 
full, and we enjoy them in quietness as formerly : 
and the Lord's presence is with us to our great 
comfort, which is valued by all who are rightly 
sensible of it, as a great mercy. 

Dublin, the twenty-first of the Sixth month, 1690. 
— I have been visiting Friends in the North, and 
had an acceptable and comfortable season amongst 
them, and found them very cheerful. It is still to be 
lamented, that sin and wickedness should so abound ; 
but the Lord doubtless will plead with all that 
grieve him, in his own way and time, though he 
be long-suffering. And therefore it will be our 
happiness, to rest quiet under his disposing and 
ordering hand, by which he will in his wisdom and 
power overrule all men and things, who knows 
best how to execute justice and judgment upon all, 
according to their works or deserts ; for before him 
all things are naked and bare, therefore he cannot 
miss in judgment. We resting here, and waiting 
upon him, it quiets our spirits, and sweetens them : 
and also I can say, it makes many bitter things 
sweet and so sanctified, that we meet with comfort 
in tribulation. And though it be natural unto and 
lawful for us in affliction, reverently to pray for and 
desire deliverance, and also when obtained, to rejoice 
therein, and bless the Lord therefore ; yet still our 
happiness is, to mind his providences, and wise 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 255 

ordering of all things, and therewith to be content, 
without either murmuring at, or struggling against, 
what he seems good to bring to pass. And so here 
we shall all rest in one fold and covenant, and feed 
in one pasture together, and so have a fellow-feeling 
of one another's joy or sufferings. For our resting- 
place is but one in the Truth, and our salvation 
stands therein for ever ; and therefore we need look 
at no other. 

John Burnyeat. 



EPISTLES OF JOHN BURNYEAT. 



[Of the Twenty-three Epistles printed in the first 

edition of John Burnyeafs Works, the Editor 

selects the following : — •] 

TO MY DEAR FRIENDS IN THE NORTH OF IRELAND 
ABOUT KILMOR£ ; LURGAN, AND THAT WAY. 

Darbadoesj the third day of the 

First month, 1685. 

Dearly Beloved, 

Unto whom the pure love of my heart in the cove- 
nant of life doth plenteously flow forth at this time, 
my soul dearly salutes you all, who are faithful unto 
the Lord, without respect of persons ; whose minds 
are kept faithful unto the unchangeable power of 
life, wherein your souls have been refreshed, and by 
which you have been gathered into the belief of the 
truth, and to the acknowledgment of the same ; 
which in a good degree hath been made manifest 
in and among you. My exhortation, as a brother, 
in the bowels of love unfeigned unto you, is, that 
as the Lord hath appeared, and made manifest his 
power in your hearts, even so wait ye ; that your 

* Note. — A dash in an Epistle, denotes the omission of 
one or more sentences. 



EPISTLES OF JOHN BURNYEAT. 257 

dwelling ye may come to witness to be in the same. 
For Friends, ye know, that it is not sufficient only 
to know that He hath appeared, but that ye feel your 
dwelling to be in the power, and in the daily sense 
of the renewing of his appearing in your hearts : 
that by it your hearts may be kept open^iinto him, 
and so you from day to day may know the renewing 
of his presence, and the virtue of his own life in 
you. O ! my dear Friends, this is that by which 
every heart may be kept sweet and living, and 
virtuous, and open unto the Lord ; so that the issues 
of his love will become as a refreshing river, unto 
every soul that keeps faithful unto him. 

Therefore, Friends, all mind your standing and 
your dwelling in the power, and wait for the inward 
operation of it in your hearts ; that, by its dwelling 
in you, and living in you, your hearts may be 
kept tender, and contrite, and broken before the 
Lord. And Friends, beware of hardness of heart, 
I warn you in God's fear ; for therein the deceitful 
worker gets advantage, and unbelief comes to enter ; 
and so such will come short of the rest that God hath 
prepared for his people, and through the deceitful- 
ness of sin will come to be more hardened. And so 
Friends, lest this should come upon any one of you, 
and ye fall short of the rest, watch in the fear of 
God ; and keep down to the tender principle of life 
every one of you in your own particulars, by which 
your hearts may be kept out of the hardness in the 
tenderness and brokenness of heart ; in which state 
the Lord is witnessed to dwell w T ith man and in 
man, according to his promise. And so will you 
know the growing of the holy seed in you into 
the pure dominion, by which that which would 
darken or harden, will be subjected, and kept in the 

s 



258 EPISTLES OF 

subjection. Therefore Friends, mind your stand- 
ing in the seed Christ, the true vine, that you may 
have life abundantly, and know its abounding in 
you. For whosoever goes from him, the life, the 
seed, the vine, Christ Jesus the power of God, 
shall wither, and decay, and die : and in the end be 
fit for nothing but the fire. And this shall such 
know, who in the day of the Lord's gathering, and 
tender visiting in mercy and lovine-kindness, will 
not be won and gained into faithfulness, but who 
slight the day of their visitation. 

Therefore my dear Friends, be faithful unto 
Lord every individual of you, in that which yon 
have received from him, and wait to be guided by 
that in your hearts. And keep low and down to 
the principle of life in your own hearts, that you 
may never become stiff-necked, nor harden* 
your hearts again. For this was Israel's sin of 
old, whose hearts were hardened, and whose neck 
was become like an iron sinew, that it could not 
bend unto God's yoke. For which he was wroth 
with his people, and cast off his inheritance in that 
day ; so that their enemies had power over them, 
and laid their dwellings desolate. Those things are 
left unto us for an example, that we might not fall 
after the same manner of unbelief; but fear lest a 
promise being left us of enterincr into his rest, we 
should fall short through unbelief, and so lose the in- 
heritance, and so by the enemy have our habitations 
laid desolate, and we be carried away captives out of 
our dwelling-place. These things, my Fii If 
Brethren, I lay before you in the fear and love of God, 
which is weighty in my heart towards you all : and I 
desire that the Lord may preserve you all faithful 
unto himself, in the feeling of his life and _ 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 259 

presence, by which your hearts may be kept open 
unto him, and so open in true love one towards 
another ; that as a family in the love of God you 
may dwell together : in which love my soul dearly 
salutes you all, and in it I remain your brother 
and companion in the tribulation and patience of 
Christ Jesus. 

J. B. 



TO FRIENDS. 

London, 10th of Third month, 1677. 

Dear and well beloved, 

Unto you, who are the called of God in those parts, 
unto whom the visitation of his day hath reached, 
and upon whose hearts the heavenly light thereof 
hath shined in its pure spiritual breakings forth, so 
that you are become the children thereof, and do 
walk therein ; unto you all doth the tender saluta- 
tion of my soul reach in the love of God, and in the 
fellowship, which is a mystery, which is held in a 
pure conscience, and continued, as we walk and abide 
in the light. In this light we have fellowship with 
the Father, and with the Son, and also one with 
another, and so are of one family and household, 
partakers of that one bread, which the sanctified in 
all ages did feed upon ; which is that which we are 
to wait for in this day, that we may live thereby 
unto God, and grow through the divine nourish- 
ment thereof into his nature, and into his strength ; 
wherein we may triumph over the adversary, as the 
ancients did of old, and rejoice in the God of our 
salvation, who is our strength and tower of safety 
for ever. 

s2 



260 EPISTLES OF 

Dear, Friends, great and large hath the love and 
kindness of our God been unto us (who were stran- 
gers, aliens, and enemies in our minds unto him) in 
this, that he hath called and chosen us to be his 
people, and to bear witness unto his appearance, 
and the shinings forth of his light, and of the glory of 
his presence, whereby he hath richly comforted our 
souls, and lifted up our heads above all sorrow, even 
when the enemy hath thought to sink us down into 
the pit. Thus hath the Lord dealt bountifully with 
our souls, and been a ready help in the needful time ; 
to him be the honour and glory for ever and ever ! 
So that now it behoves all, after so many deliver- 
ances, favours, and mercies, to [cleave] close unto 
the Lord, and seek his glory above all, and that 
with all their strength ; that so he who is the good 
husbandman, may be glorified through every one's 
bringing forth fruit, — according to Christ's com- 
mand. 

Now my Friends, this all observe, that none can 
bring forth fruit unto God's glory, but as they abide 
in Christ the living vine ; from him is the life re- 
ceived, by which every one lives unto God ; and 
it is by the virtue of that life, that every one must 
act to his praise. And therefore, see that you all 
retain it in its own purity, and live in subjection 
thereunto through your whole day ; that you may 
be as fruitful branches, abiding in the right nature, 
and bearing holy fruit: and then will you feel the 
holy dew abide upon your spirits, throughout your 
age, which will preserve you from withering, your 
leaf from fading ; and so your fruit shall be ripe in 
due season, and not be untimely brought forth in 
that which will not endure : for that in which 
we have believed, will endure for ever. The he;:- 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 2G1 

venly power which God hath revealed in our hearts, 
and made manifest for a standing foundation, is 
sure for ever ; upon which, as you all abide sted- 
fast, the gates of hell, with all the power of dark- 
ness, shall not prevail against you ; but you shall 
be able to withstand him, and keep your habitations 
in the dominion thereof, and dwell in peace upon 
the rock of safety, in the midst of all storms; and 
sing for joy of heart, when those that forsake this 
rock, shall howl and lament for vexation of spirit. 
For the Lord God will bring his day and his power 
over all, and upon all that fly to any shelter, or 
seek any other defence, who have once known his 
truth ; and he will be unto such as a moth, and as 
rottenness, and their strength he will waste, and their 
garment and clothing he will destroy, and their 
beauty and glory he will cause to fade ; though 
they have been as a beautiful flower in the head of 
the fat valley, yet will fading come upon them, 
even dryness at the root, and withering and decaying 
upon the beauty of their blossoms. Therefore let all 
keep unto that, and in that, wdiich will not decay, 
come to nothing, nor ever be turned into dark- 
ness ; but abide in its virtue and glory, in and by 
which the Lord hath visited you, and through 
which his day hath dawned upon your souls, the 
morning whereof you have known bright and clear, 
as without clouds, in which you have seen the Son 
in his glory to appear unto your souls, with his 
heavenly healing, warmness, and virtue. Now 
Friends, this is that which for ever is to be kept to, 
that the day may be known to increase in the light 
and glory of it, in its own clearness, without mix- 
ture; not mixing with it your own wisdom, thoughts, 
or carnal imaginations, which do prove such clouds, 



262 EPISTLES OF 

where they are suffered to arise, that they bring 
darkness over the understanding, and make the day 
cloudy and dark, and so occasion wandering, and to 
some turn the very eyelids of the morning into the 
shadow of death. And through such things hath 
the enemy so prevailed over some, that he hath 
brought them again into the night of everlasting 
darkness and confusion, ere they have been aware 

whither he would lead. 

Dear Friends, that which preserves from these 
dangers, is that arm and power which God revealed 
in the beginning, by which (as we are witnesses) 
he redeemed our souls out of many afflictions. And 
therefore, let it be every one's care, to wait for a 
clear and sensible feeling of this same power in its 
own pure nature, to spring up in all your hearts 
eveiy day ; and then will your delight be so in it, 
and your acquaintance (in a clear understanding) 
will be so with it, that you will never be deceived, 
so as to take any other for it. Then to your 
comfort, will your heavenly peace spring, under the 
power and government of him, who is the Prince 
of true peace ; and so will your hearts be made 
truly glad, and weighty, and ponderous, and not 
be carried about with every wind : for in this 
is the true and sure establishment of the soul with 
grace in the covenant of life for ever ; and these 
are they whose peace is of a standing nature, who 
are not given to change. But this I have always 
observed, that where there is an uncertain spirit 
or mind, though in some states into which at times 
they may come, they may have peace, and feel 
some refreshment, yet for want of constancy and 
stedfastness (which is preserved through a true, 
watchful, and diligent attendance upon that which 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 263 

doth not change, which is sure for ever,) they lose 
their habitation, and their state of peace, and come 
to be tossed in their minds, and afflicted in their 
spirits, and also are the occasion of tossing, afflic- 
tion, and distress unto others, who not being aware, 
may sometimes be in danger to suffer with them, 
when they fly from the word, that should uphold, 
as it was with Jonah in the days of old. And 
therefore it is good for every one, to have their 
hearts established with grace, and in the grace to 
wait for a settlement ; that under the pure teachings 
thereof, they may be preserved from going into those 
things that will procure woe : and so shall every 
one's state in that which is good, be more and more 
constant, and then will there be a growing, and 
going forward and not backward. For that which 
doth occasion any to linger, or draw back, is care- 
lessness, unbelief, and disobedience ; and in such 
the Lord's soul doth take no pleasure. Therefore in 
that which doth not change let all live, by which 
all changeable and mutable thoughts, and imagi- 
nations, and desires will be judged down, and the 
spring of life over all will flow : and the first will 
be last ; for in that the beauty and glory doth stand 
for ever. And all that abide not in it, and grow in 
the virtue thereof, whatever they have been, at the 
best will be but as a fading flower in the head of 
the fat valley, as it was with Ephraim ; the Lord 
will take no delight in them, but reject them, and 
cast them out, as such whose beauty is gone, whose 
gold is become dim, and whose wine is mixed with 
water : and so as reprobate silver shall they be 
esteemed even of men, because the Lord hath re- 
jected them. 

So the Lord God keep and preserve you all in 
that which was from the beginning, and will endure 



264 EPISTLES OF 

unto the end ; that therein ye may flourish and 
grow, as the lilly of the valley, and the tree by the 
rivers of water. This is the desire of my soul for 
you all, who truly loves you in the love of God ; 
wherein I remain one with you, and am your bro- 
ther in the truth, 

J.B. 
Let copies of this be sent to New England, Vir- 
ginia, Maryland, and Barbadoes. 



London, 20th of Fourth month, 1678. 

Dear and well-beloved in the Lord, 

With you my soul hath precious unity in the 
spiritual fellowship, and nearness, and heavenly one- 
ness which stands in that life, by which we were 
first quickened ; in which we live, and in the in- 
crease of which we grow into a heavenly under- 
standing and true soundness in discerning and judg- 
ment; whereby the faithful come to be more and 
more accomplished for their places, and fitted for 
even* good work, that so they may answer their 
office and membership in the true body, whereof 
Christ Jesus is the head ; of which body we are 
made living members, through his love, who hath 
called us, and in his Son chosen us to be heirs of 
life. 

Dear Friends, yourselves know that he, who 
through his bounty hath blessed us with spiritual 
blessings in Cbrist Jesus, so that we are made 
stewards of his manifold graces, doth now require 
answerable service from us all, according to our 
gifts received from him ; and whosoever is found 



JOHN BURXYEAT. 265 

faithful to their gifts and places, shall certainly wit- 
ness an increase, and grow in grace and in the 
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; 
and so come more and more into true soundness, to 
the spirit of a sound mind. For you know, how 
richly the power of Christ was manifested in us and 
among us in the beginning, and how wonderfully it 
did work for the redeeming of our hearts out of the 
world, the vanity and pleasures of it ; that we might 
love and affect heavenly things, and delight in the 
glory of that which comes from heaven. — But since 
that time many have been the exercises, and weighty 
have been the trials, that have been met with in our 
spiritual progress, through which the Lord hath led 
us ; and many temptations hath the Lord delivered 
us from, and led us out of; and many weaknesses 
hath he passed by, and trespasses hath he in his 
great mercy forgiven; so that to this day we remain, 
and that in covenant with him : therefore have we 
cause to praise him, and to sing unto him. 

Oh ! my dear Friends, methinks I am as if I 
were talking with you of the Lord's mercies and for- 
mer loving-kindnesses and dealings with us ; and 
being also under a sense of our present state and 
capacities, to which he hath brought us, my bowels 
within me are even melted with a holy love and ten- 
derness towards you ; and in that love I send these 
lines, as the salutation of my soul, in that which 
lives for ever, and as a signification of that entire 
love, which in my heart lives towards you ; wherein 
I desire, that both you and I may so mind our 
present state, and our growth, and the increase of 
the mercies of our God unto us, as to answer them 
by a faithful serving of him, and one another in that 
love which thinks no evil, and is never weary of 



266 EPISTLES OF 

doing good, and yet will not vaunt itself. Now this 
is that which lives in my view, the power of Christ ; 
which was so richly manifested in the beginning, 
and which did then work to the preparing of us to be 
a people fit to do his will ; and so it wrought into a 
cleansing, washing, and sanctifying of us, that we 
might be holy vessels fit for his use. Now being 
prepared, the same power in the faithful works 
mightily, to the fitting and furnishing of us unto 
every good work, that we might be to the praise of 
his grace, who hath called us ; and if we so be to 
his praise, we must grow in grace, and in the know- 
ledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ : And 
if we grow in the knowledge of him, as we have 
known him to save us from sin, and to destroy the 
evil one, and so to be our sanctification and redemp- 
tion ; even so we must wait to know him to be made 
of God unto us wisdom, that he may be our wis- 
dom, and that the fountain of it unto us may be the 
gift of his holy power in our hearts. And so then, 
as it did mightily work in our hearts to prepare us, 
even so will the same gift be felt to work mightily 
to furnish us with wisdom, and to enable for every 
good work ; and so you will know him to be made 
of God wisdom unto you. For the holy dread of 
the power upon the heart in righteousness being 
felt, guides in wisdom him or her who speaks ; the 
same holy fear and dread upon the heart guides him 
in silence, who in silence sitteth, whose mouth is 
not opened, and so he is made still : and Christ your 
head, who is one in the man, and in the woman, is 
wisdom unto you ; and so here all will be kept in 
your places, as you keep in subjection unto him who 
is the Head, the Husband of the true wife. 

So dear Friends, mind his heavenly power, and 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 267 

keep under a holy reverence unto it ; and that will 
keep you savoury and reverent in your meetings, 
and clear and in a good understanding, and subject 
one unto another ; and so you will be co-workers 
together, and helpers one of another, and you will 
come to have the benefit one of another's gifts : and 
thus as members, will you supply in a blessed unity 
every one your office in the body. Therefore my 
counsel, as a brother in love, unto you is, let all 
be subject : let none, in whom the tender life in a 
heavenly reverence doth move for counsel, advice or 
otherwise, quench it, or stop the service ; for in so 
doing others may be wronged, as well as the indi- 
vidual, unto whom the Lord intends benefit by the 
gift ; for it is not good to stop : only let all take 
heed, that their own spirits may be subject, that 
Christ may be head in all, and that he may be your 
wisdom. And be open and ready in your hearts to 
receive counsel, help and instruction one from 
another; and keep down the forward, heady and 
rash spirit, that would run without reverence, and 
speak without the true fear, from which none will 
rightly understand, nor have a true sense of the 
weight of the service of this day. 

O ! it is fresh in my heart, the dread, the rever- 
ence, the fear, that our hearts were filled with in the 
beginning, in which we went about truth's concerns ; 
this same is still to be felt and minded, and then 
all will be kept savoury : and in this will all your 
meetings, your care, and labour of love be a sweet 
smelling sacrifice unto the Lord. 

And Friends, let your monthly and quarterly 
meetings be kept orderly for the service determined 
and aimed at, that you may be retired from the 
world, and such not concerned in the service pro- 
posed for such meetings ; that so all that come, 



268 



EPISTLES OF 



mar be either capable of doing service in a reverent 
mind, or learn that which may be for truth's 
honour, their own good, and your comfort. Then 
will all you, who are concerned, get into your 
service without straitness ; and so will be a help one 
unto another in your particular gifts, and the spring 
of life will be opened among you, and your meetings 
will be delightful unto vou ; and you in that will be 
a delight one to another : and then with one consent, 
in the pleasant unity you will do the Lord's work 
together, as his servants and hand-maids, and be 
a part of his pleasant heritage, which he hath chosen, 
and upon whom he rains down his blessings daily. 

And so the God of peace and love fill your 
assemblies with his presence, life and love ; that you 
may flourish a< the plants of his right hand plant- 
ing, and be faithful through your whole day, is the 
desire of my heart and soul, who remain your 
brother in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

J. B. 



London, 1680. 
Dear Friends, 

You whom the Lord hath visited and reached unto 
by his own holy arm of heavenly power, for that, 
blessed end for which he hath visited many nations, 
and appeared unto many people, viz., that he might 
shew glory again unto mankind, which through sin 
they were fallen short of; that so in his visitation he 
might renew that heavenly image, whereby he might 
be glorified again among the sons of men ; and 
now in this great day of visitation, which hath 
dawned upon the nations, you in these countries 
have been visited and reached unto, and graciously 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 269 

saved and delivered from the snares of death, and 
opened unto the way of life ; so that you have both 
seen into that hidden glory, and tasted of, and been 
enjoyers of, the power of that life which hath no 
end. And now the care which always ought to 
dwell upon your hearts, is this, that you may keep 
in possession that which you have received ; that, 
as was said of old, None may take your crown from 
you, or none may fall short of that rest, which is 
prepared for the visited and redeemed of the Lord. 
The way you have known, God hath showed it unto 
you, and called you to walk therein ; and the mark 
you have seen, the Lord hath set that before you, 
that you might press towards it, as the ancient 
Christians did, for the prize of the high calling of 
God in Christ Jesus. And now, dear Friends, that 
which I desire all may be concerned in, is, that 
there may be a pressing forward towards the mark, 
and a going on in this way, which the Lord hath 
cast up or revealed, and called you to walk in ; 
for it is he that travels on, that shall come to 
the blessed end, and obtain the crown of glory ; and 
not such as linger or sit down by the way, either 
to take up a rest, or look for another inheritance 

besides what God hath promised. He that con* 

tinues unto the end shall be saved ; and he that 
is faithful unto death, shall have the crown of 
life. Therefore, let a concern be always upon your 
minds in this weighty matter, that you may see 
how it is with you, and whether you are still in 
your journey upon your travel towards the mark 
for the prize : and as you must mind whether you 
are in your travel, pressing forwards or no ; even 
so you must mind also, that you press forwards 
towards the mark, or else you may come short of 



270 



EPISTLES OF 



the prize, the blessed inheritance; and so be such 
as James speaks of, that ask and receive not, be- 
cause they ask amiss. For the heavenly wisdom is 
to be sought after and waited for, which comes 
down from above, and which teacheth and guideth 
in the heavenly way, the heavenly path of life and 
salvation, where every one's steps will be sure, and 
their goings will be established, and their under- 
standings will grow. For the just man's path will 
he as the shining light, that shines more and more 
unto the perfect day : here none will be like those 
that beat the air, or run at an uncertainty ; the 
apostle said, they were not such, yet there may be 
such, whose pains and travels may be great. There- 
fore, still I say, let your pressing be towards the 
mark, in the sense of the Lord's power, which is 
the true guide, and the true cross, which mortifies 
and crucifies the flesh with its affections and lusts. 
and keeps self down in the death, out of repu- 
tation, for there is none due unto it. For whom- 
ever gives and seeks reputation to self, which ou^ht 
to be made of no reputation, such can never rightly 
seek God's honour, nor work his work, nor obtain 
the right prize, nor attain the crown, but must fall 
short at last ; for it is in him that crucifies self, 
and makes it of no reputation, that the election 
stands, and in whom the heirship is for ever. 
Therefore, dear Friends, wait to feel his power 
in your hearts, and diligently mind the Men 
work thereof ; that you may feel how it purgeth 
your consciences from dead works, and cleanse th 
your hearts from sin ; for sin defileth the heart, 
so that it is not prepared for the Lord, he will not 
dwell therein. Therefore it must be washed, and 
dead works must be purged away ; for no man can 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 271 

serve the living God therein ; it must be the living 
works in the living power, wherein we can be 
accepted. And so let all mind the living power, 
which is the living guide, which doth guide in the 
living way, and keeps alive unto God ; and so you 
will all be kept a living people, and grow up in the 
living wisdom that is from above, which is inwardly 
taught by the living gift, that is received from the 
Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, 
nor shadow of turning. And as you grow up in 
this wisdom, you will be constant ; there will be an 
establishing : and such will shew out of a good 
conversation their works, with meekness and wis- 
dom. But sayeth the apostle, " if there be bitteren- 
vying, and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie 
not against the truth : this wisdom descendeth not 
from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish : 
for where envying and strife is, there is confusion 
and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from 
above, is first pure, and then peaceable, gentle, and 
easy to be entreated ; full of mercy and good fruits, 
&c. : and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace 
of them that make peace ;" so that you may see the 
fruits brought forth manifest the wisdom from 
whence it comes : the heavenly peaceable wisdom 
brings forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness, 
and is full of mercy, is gentle, and easy to be en- 
treated, and full of good works ; but the earthly 
brings forth the contrary. Therefore, sayeth the 
apostle, if there be bitter envying and strife in your 
hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth ; say 
not, thou art in the heavenly wisdom, while this 
lodgeth in thee ; for this wisdom descendeth not 
from above, but is earthly and sensual, and there- 
fore can never establish, but brings confusion, 



272 



EPISTLES OF 



because he is the author of it, who can never work 
good. 

Therefore dear Friends, let your hearts be always 
kept in subjection unto that power, which bridles 
your wills and crosses them, and keeps you lowly, 
humble and gentle, where the daily dying, which 
the Apostle was in, may be witnessed : and so you 
will see the true pressing forward towards the mark, 
and the true growing into dominion over him that 
would hinder. And you know, that he, whom we 
ought to hear, saith, " Learn of me, for I am meek 
and lowly in heart :" and so, as every one learns of 
him, and minds the leadings of his power, and the 
teachings of his Spirit of grace in their hearts, they 
will grow more and more like him, and come into 
his nature and healing spirit, and so in his grace 
and life be as healers and saviours : and therefore 
was it said by the Prophet, they should be as 
saviours upon Mount Zion. Now Friends, every 
one mind this saving, healing power in yourselves, 
and bow in your hearts unto it, and be still in your 
minds and calm ; and then you shall see how it will 
sweeten you, level your spirits, and bring down that 
which is high, and lofty, and hard ; and you shall 
see, how the mountains will melt at the presence of 
the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob ; and 
you shall see, how the winds and seas obey your 
Saviour, and into what calmness he will bring your 
spirits ; and then when all is still, your ear being 
opened, which is the first work of his word, you 
will be swift to hear, and hearing, your souls will 
live : and you will come down out of all the noises, 
floatings and swellings, into the calmness and still- 
ness, where you will admire your Saviour, and 
what manner of man is this, that even the winds and 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 



273 



seas obey him? And you will see, that though 
Jordan overflow her banks, yet at the leadings on 
of our Joshua, and at the entrance of the feet of 
our High Priest, it must be driven back ; that the 
ransomed of the Lord may pass over dry shod. 
Much of this nature may be read in spirit, as there 
is a hearkening and keeping low ; but the forward, 
rash and hasty, are often tossed upon the waters, 
and are very uncertain in their ways and doings ; and 
therefore do produce unto themselves much afflic- 
tion of soul and spirit ; for to them the promise doth 
not belong, where it is said, he will keep them in 
perfect peace, whose minds are stayed upon him, 
because they trusted in him. 

Now Friends, methinks the way is plain ; may 
every one be careful to attend upon the power and 
its openings, and give way thereunto, and be hum- 
ble ; for it is the humble he teacheth his ways, and 
1 the meek he will guide in judgment, and the willing 
and obedient he will feed ; for the promise is, they 
shall eat of the good of the land. Therefore I do 
beseech all, be mindful, be you all careful, keep 
your hearts out of the world, and the drowning, 
surfeiting cares and pleasures of it, that you may 
neither be choked, nor surfeited with the excess 
thereof, nor be so led up into the worldly pleasures, 
and liberty out of the truth, which that draws into, as 
thereby and therein to forget the Lord, and to over- 
look your inward state. For if any so do, they 
lose the glory, the beauty, and the sweetness of their 
heavenly condition ; and then they grow weary of' 
the way of the Lord, and are ready to say, as some 
of old, what profit is there of serving of God, or in 
keeping of his ordinances ? And therefore may the 
God of life stir you up, and awaken all unto watch- 



274 EPISTLES OF 

fulness and diligence, that you may grow rich in the 
inward man, and be replenished with the virtues and 
graces of God ; that you may be a fruitful people in 
those parts of the world, to the honour and glory of 
him who hath called and visited you ; who is worthy 
of all glory and honour, praise and dominion for 
ever! 

And dear Friends, my heart's love reacheth unto 
you all, who love and fear the Lord ; and in the 
love of God I dearly salute you all, and send this 
as a testimony of that love, which still lives in my 
heart unto you, and therein I remain, your friend 
and brother, 



J. B. 






TO FRIENDS IN GLOUCESTER PRISON. 



From the Marshahea in the City of Dublin, 
the 25th of the 6th month, i683. 

Dear Friends, 

Unto you, who are faithful sufferers in that city, 
with the rest of the faithful in that city and country, 
who in your hearts are given up to suffer for the 
holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour, 
who hath called and redeemed, chosen, and given 
you hearts not only to believe, but also to puffer 
for his name's sake, and thus hath counted you 
worthy as vessels of his choice ; unto you all, I say, 
in the name and love of Christ Jesus our Lord, I 
send greeting, and with all the tender salutation of 
my soul and spirit, in that near affection and holy 
union, into which, by the power of the Holy Gbest 



J0IIN BURNYEAT. 275 

we have been gathered and united : so that as mem- 
bers of that one body, into which we have been ' 
baptised by that one Spirit, (wherein the true access 
unto God doth stand,) we have our fellowship to- 
gether, and so drink together into that one Spirit, 
and are refreshed with the water that flows from the 
living rock, that followed Israel of old, who is the 
rock of our age, the stay of the generation of the 
righteous in this day, and that upon which we have 
our sure standing, so that we cannot easily be moved . 
Though the winds do blow, and the waters swell 
and toss, and the unestablished be driven to and fro, 
and be so afflicted in their spirits ; yet this rock abides 
for a habitation and place of safety unto all those, 
who keep firm thereunto, and so do abide near in 
their spirits unto the holy power thereof; these find 
the living spring of that grace from the same in their 
souls, which the world cannot take away, whose trea- 
sure the thief cannot steal, nor the moth waste, — for 
it is heavenly, and is kept by a heavenly hand. And 
such who mind this, will be ready to offer up their 
earthly substance, and also themselves into His hand 
and will, out of which no man is able to pluck. 
And surely in this day, there is no true rest nor 
satisfaction to the souls or spirits of Friends, but as 
they get hither in the faith with their hearts and 
spirits : and when we are here spiritually, oh ! this 
holy shield, how doth it defend ! Oh ! the holy 
rock, how do we sit under the shadow of it ! Oh ! 
the holy joy, that the dwellers upon this do feel in 
their spirits, though the tempest be great ! Oh ! the 
God of heaven keep us all in the holy sense of this, 
that our spirits may be borne up from sinking under 
our exercises in the trial ; that so we may all glorify 
him in our day. 

t2 



276 EPISTLES OF 

Dearly beloved, you tender suffering children, 
whose hearts are tender of God's glory, and there- 
fore are willing to give up yourselves and your all 
for his name's sake, that you may be of that num- 
ber who (following the Lamb whithersoever he goes, 
and not loving your lives unto death) may stand 
with him upon Mount Sion. My heart and soul is 
knit unto you, and you are near to me ; and in the 
unity of the ancient life, I feel love abundantly to 
flow unto you, and indeed you have had a proof of 
incerity of my love of old unto you : and truly, 
you that stand in your innocent testimony, faith- 
full v do engage mv heart still more and more in 
love unto you. Oh ! the tender meltings of my spirit 
: sweetness of the love of God, in which I reach 
you, and rejoice with you in your joy, which all the 
th of man cannot put a stop unto. I know your 
hearts are at ease, and your spirits free, and the 
.'its and burdens from off you who, are freely 
given up to suffer, though in these bonds outwardly : 
there can be no such spiritual portion received 
shrink from their testimony in this day 
of trial. For the word is true for ever, they that surfer 
him, shall reign with him : he the Captain 
perfect through sufferings, and he must be 
followed by all that would come in the fulness to par- 
take with him of his glory. And such who draw 
:, and would find a place of safety for themselves 
to escape their sufferings for their testimony, though 
should fly to the uttermost parts of the earth, 
the Lord's hand will find them out ; and there will 
not only be a holding back of the portion, but a 
spiritual pain will overtake, when the heart is 
_r ; and because thereof, uneasy will every one's 
be unto their spirits. 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 277 

And therefore, my dear Friends, keep in the faith 
and word that justifies, and then will you reign in 
the seed that is heir for ever : wherein you will 
overcome, and inherit, and be conquerors, and so 
triumph with the Lamb that must have the victory ; 
before whose feet the crowns of all the mighty must 
be laid down ; unto whom the kings of the earth, 
and all flesh must bow. In him we trust, his 
heavenly kingdom we wait for $nd pray for the 
coming of: that even such as are our enemies, by the 
power thereof may be converted unto God, and so 
have an inheritance with us in that kingdom, which 
hath no end : that so mankind might rest together 
in that hope, which makes not ashamed, and where 
the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by his 
Spirit. Thus God is filling the hearts of his chil- 
dren with good-will towards all ; the Lord keep us 
therein for ever ! 

Dear Friends, by this know that I am well, 
and am now come to have a share with you of the 
sufferings that attend for the gospel's sake : I 
have been three weeks a prisoner here in the Mar- 
shalsea of Dublin. So in the true fellowship of the 
gospel am a partaker with you, both of the sufferings 
and consolation that attend us for the testimony 
thereof. I remain, your brother, 

J. B. 



Dublin, the 12th of Eighth month, 1685. 

Dear Friends, 
In the universal Spirit of life and truth, and of 
righteousness and peace, doth the tender affection 



z7o EPISTLES OF 

and pure love of my heart flow forth and reach 
unto you all, who are true lovers of the power and 
the holiness of the same ; wherein alone it is, that 
we bear the image of Him, whose name is holiness, 
and his nature and being is purity ; in that only 
we do draw and may draw near unto him, and 
have fellowship with him, and enjoy his presence, 
who is our God, our life and salvation. In the 
unity of that whereby we have been quickened, and 
through which we live unto him that hath quickened 
us, do I exhort and beseech you all, to mind with 
reverence his secret and sweet visitations by his 
holy power upon your spirits, which you feel to 
appear there, and through the brightness of its 
appearing to destroy him, whose coming is after 
the working of Satan with all power, &c, and with 
all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that 
perish ; and not only to appear and destroy him 
and his works, but also to abide with you, and dwell 
in you, and so to make you his dwelling-place. 
And then you being watchful, shall not watch in 
vain, because the Lord then will be your keeper ; 
and then, as one said of old, He keeping the city, 

the watchman watcheth not in vain. Therefore, 

Friends, see that you all be mindful of him in his 
appearing by his power and Spirit of grace in your 
hearts, and let him have room there, and not be 
straitened, or thronged up or oppressed : for he 
delights to dwell alone there, and have the whole 
heart to himself, and at his own disposing; that he 
may fill it with that which he takes pleasure in, 
and in which he only may be glorified and honoured : 
and therefore doth he require the heart, saying, " My 
son, give me thy heart;'' and Christ command-, 
that we should love him with all our hearts, &C. So 



JOHN BURNYEAT. 279 

as I said, let him have room in your hearts ; and 
take heed, that, with this world, the spirit of it, the 
nature of it, and the love to the things therein, your 
hearts be not filled, and so taken up, that there be 
not room for him, whose coming is with such glory 
and fulness, that he fills all who are rightly poor 
and empty, with that fulness, richness and glory : 
so that there can be no want to them, who have him 
for their portion and inheritance, and keep single in 
their hearts before him. But where the heart is 
filled w r ith delight in, or desire after, other things 
out of the covenant of God, (which is out of his 
favour,) there the Lord will not have delight to 

dwell, there is not room. 

So dear Friends, the thing that is chiefly in 
my mind unto you is, to entreat and beseech you 
all, to be tender in your hearts, and careful over 
your spirits, that you may not let in, nor join with 
anything, that will bring grief or oppression upon 
your life, or lead you into the transgression of the 
law thereof. Mind the exhortation of the apostle, 
Grieve not the Holy Spirit by which you are sealed, 
&c. And so as you are careful, watchful and 
wise to take heed unto the holy conduct and blessed 
leadings and direction of this Spirit and the law 
thereof, your souls will dwell in peace, and your 
feet will tread in a safe path, even the path of peace, 
and your steps will not slide ; but you will witness 
to be true what David said of old, " the righteous 
shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever ;" 
for, saith he, " the mouth of the righteous speaketh 
wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. The 
law of his God is in his heart, none of his steps 
shall slide.'' So here you see, what it is that keeps 
from sliding, the law of God which is in the heart ; 



280 EPISTLES OF JOHN BURNYEAT. 

this preserved David, for it was as a lamp to his 
feet, and a light unto his path. 

Oh ! my dear Friends, you may be happy ; yea, 
we may all be happy, if we be as careful as we 
ought, to walk by this rule. Oh ! the sweetness, 
peace and glory, with which He fills the hearts of 
all his people, who take heed unto his law : the 
Spirit is not grieved, the life of the soul is not 
oppressed, the soul, life, or spirit of man is at ease, 
and so is in the glorious liberty of the sons of God, 
and is in that state, where it can sing unto the Lord, 
and praise him. Therefore, all of you mind your 
dwelling, and inward liberty, and spiritual freedom 
from all the corruptions of the world and of the 
flesh, both inwardly in yourselves, and all tempta- 
tions from without; that you may reign in the 
dominion of the seed Christ Jesus for ever, and so 
with him be co-heirs of that heavenly inheritance 
and possession, which lie hath purchased for you. 

Thus, in the unity of that life, which reigns over 
all, do I very dearly salute you all, who love the 
truth ; and in that do I desire, that the God of life 
may bear up your spirits by his power, over all that 
would defile or oppress ; that you may be preserved 
to remain the sons and daughters of God, without 
rebuke in and among this crooked and perverse 
generation, amongst whom may you shine as lights, 
to the glory of Him, who hath called you out of 
darkness into his marvellous light ; who over all 
is worthy of glory and honour and dominion, world 
without end ! 

From your friend and brother in the truth, 

J. B. 



BRIEF MEMOIR 



OF 



THE LIFE 



OF 



JOHN CROKER, 



WHO WAS BORN AT PLYMOUTH, 



in 1673. 



WRITTEN 3Y HIMSELF. 



NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. 
$ 



" The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him ; and if ye seek Him' 
he will be found of you." — 2 Chron. xv. 2. 



LONDON 

1839. 



BRIEF MEMOIR 



OF THE 



LIFE OF J % OHN CEOKEE, 



I was born on the eighth of the Twelfth month, in 
the year 1673, in the town of Plymouth, in the 
county of Devon : my father was of the family of the 
Crokers of Lyneham, being by birth one called a 
gentleman ; and he married Anstice, the daughter 
of Nicholas Tripe, a shopkeeper at Kingsbridge, in 
that county. They were both early convinced of 
the blessed Truth, and stood boldly for it in the time 
of persecution, many times to the loss of their goods 
and imprisonment of their bodies, which they bore 
with patience, accounting it as nothing, in compari- 
son with the blessed truth, which God had revealed 
and made them sharers of. 

Although I was then but young, yet I can remem- 
ber their love and zeal for the way of truth professed 
by them : notwithstanding great was the rage of 
men against the professors of the light, which had 
discovered many of the dark ways of the professors 
of that time. My father and mother, with others, 
would not neglect the assembling of themselves 
together for Divine worship, but frequently met 
together, and took their children with them ; and 



284 



THE LIFE OF 



sometimes they met in the open streets, because they 
were forcibly kept out of their meeting-house. 
Thus they were made a gazingstocK, and were 
mocked at by men of corrupt minds, who often ill- 
treated them, by pulling them down from their seats, 
and haling them before magistrates ; who again often 
separated husband from wife, and parents from their 
children. This was the lot of my father, who was 
kept a prisoner sometime at Exeter, forty-four miles 
from home, and my mother was at the same time a 
prisoner in the Bridewell at Plymouth. In all these 
trials I never heard or saw them uneasy ; but they 
often encouraged their children to be sober and 
good, that they might come to be the servants of 
God, and to stand in their places, when they might 
be called hence ; believing, however it might fare 
with them as to these outward things, that God 
would be a portion to their children, as they kept in 
his fear, and the lot of their inheritance, if they 
proved faithful ; which would be the best of riches 
and the best of ornaments, far exceeding gold or 
silver, or any of the soft and shining raiments, which 
they themselves had found a concern, in a great 
degree, to forsake and deny ; accounting all things as 
nothing, that they might win Christ, for whose 
sake thev were made willing to be as the off-scour- 
ing of many people. They would not allow in us 
their children, that which they found Truth called 
them out of; but still showed us an example of self- 
denial, and constrained us, as much as in them lay, 
to refrain from all things that were not of a good 
savour, or seemed anything like to the going back 
again into the rudiments of the world, or into that 
which they were brought to deny themselves of 
for Christ's sake. 



JOHN CROKER. 285 

Nevertheless, when I was young I found there 
was an evil thing, stubbornness or rebellion, which 
grew in me ; so that I often kicked at the reproofs 
of my parents, and slighted their tender counsel, 
and vainly spent my childish days to their, and 
since to my own, grief and sorrow ; so that when 
they had brought me up to about twelve years of 
age, and educated me with some learning, as reading, 
writing, and arithmetic, and were earnest I should 
learn Latin, I was stubborn, and would not learn it. 

In the year 1686, some Friends of Plymouth 
being about to remove to Pennsylvania, and I being 
willing to go with them, my father and mother 
concluded to bind me apprentice to a Friend, one 
John Shilson, by trade a serge maker, but who also 
professed surgery ; with whom I went to be in- 
structed in the art of surgery. They had a good 
end in it ; for I was sensible my mother was greatly 
exercised for my preservation, and that I might 
be brought to a sense of the power of God, to 
work me into a new lump ; and by separating me 
from them and from my companions, I might be 
brought to a thoughtfulness how I had behaved 
myself towards them, and to a remembrance of my 
Creator in the days of my youth, before the strength 
of evil days came on. And truly this separation, 
and what I met with before I returned again, had 
a good effect upon me, as may be seen hereafter. 

My parents' care for me was so great, that they 
sent in the same vessel with me a considerable 
parcel of goods, and appointed two Friends my over- 
seers, who had the care of disposing of the said 
goods and the care of me, if anything might happen 
which should call for assistance, that I might not 
suffer too much the want of the things of this life • 



286 



THE LIFE OF 



which proved very helpful. For soon after I came 
to Pennsylvania, my master put me with the rest of 
the servants into the woods, in order to clear- 
land for a plantation ; where I was made to work 
hard like the rest, for the space of about one year ; 
in which time 1 often thought of my parents, and of 
their former care and advices, also of my stubborn 
rebellious behaviour towards them ; which made me 
often say, e Lord forgive me, and look down in mercy 
upon me.' Thus I mourned many times ; — yet I 
soon got over it, and at times grew wanton and 
foolish with the rest of my fellows, and got over Ihe 
reproofs of instruction, that were at work in my 
heart, which reproofs and chastisement I was not 
willing to bear : but the Lord intended good to me, 
and did not leave striving (at times) in my 60ul ; 
and troubles outwardly followed one another, as the 
Lord saw good, for ends best known to himself. 
He soon took my master and mistress, their daugh- 
ter and maid-servant out of the world, by the dis- 
temper of the country, which was then prevalent : 
then all our affairs in the country were shut up, and 
I was destitute as well as others of the servants, 
some of whom soon went off. 

I still remained in the country with one young 
man : we were like two pilgrims walking up and 
down the woods, making use of such provisions as 
were left in the house, and what we gathered in the 
woods ; which being a solitary life, various con- 
siderations of different matters came before my 
mind, concerning time and things past and present, 
and how the Lord had hitherto preserved me by see 
and land ; and that I was not swallowed up by the 
one, neither was I taken away by the distemper 
that reigned on the other, — being fearful of the latter, 



JOHN CROKEH. 



287 



which was very mortal, having never had the sea- 
soning of the country ; but blessed be God I was 
never sick there. As the sense of these things grew 
on me, love to God increased in my bosom ; and 
this drew me into tears and solitary sittings with my 
Bible in my hand, reading oftener than I commonly 
used to do, — desiring the Lord to open my understand- 
ing in what I read, and to show me my duty, for X was 
willing to serve him 5 and that he would be pleased 
to open a way for my return to my father's house, 
for now I was free from my apprenticeship by the 
death of my master ; — then would I serve him, and 
then would I be obedient to my tender parents, and 
walk in awfulness before the Lord the remaining 
time I had to spend ; — with some such breathings 
as honest Jacob had, when he said to this effect — 
If God will be with me in the way that I go, so that 
I ome again in peace to my father's house, then 
shall the Lord be my God, and I will serve him. 

Now although I did not suffer want as to food, 
not having spent what was left by the deceased, 
yet being fifteen miles from Philadelphia, those 
Friends to whom my father had committed the 
care of me in case I should meet with any ad- 
versity, consulted each other what to do with me, 
until they could hear from my father, which they 
endeavoured to do, with what speed they could ; and 
in the mean time, one of them (James Fox) took me 
to his house, where I remained a little w r hile doing 
such small business as I was set about, being still 
in the country about the same distance as before. 
At length they got me into the city, and put me to 
school to George Keith, who was then in esteem 
among Friends : but growing high and conceited in 
his arts and parts afterwards, he became troublesome 



288 THE LIFE OF 

to Friends and himself; so that at length for the 
clearing of truth, they were forced to deny him, and 
he became disesteemed, like unsavoury salt, as it were 
trodden under feet of men. Before they (the two 
Friends) heard from my father, I began to take 
liberty, and forsook my very frequent retirements, 
wherein I had been often tendered and broken 
before the Lord; and thus I became indifferent, 
and came to a loss as to my inward state and 
condition. But God having many ways of visit- 
ing his people, in order to bring them to a 
sense of their states, yet found me out, and another 
sore trial I had to pass through, whereby I might 
see the Lord could and would do, as seemeth good 
in his sis;ht ; and that those who will not bow 
in mercy, he will make to bow in judgment, and 
they shall see the goodness of God in and through 
all ; — which was my lot : indeed the great goodness 
of God to me, I hope I shall never forget. 

After a while I heard from my father, who was 
desirous of my return ; and in order thereunto my 
friends made preparations, and got me a passage in 
a vessel to Newcastle upon Tyne, in England ; in 
which vessel they put some effects, which might be 
for my accommodation when I came to England, 
as well as to carry me to my father, who lived some 
hundreds of miles distance from Newcastle : and 
some other effects were put on board another vessel, 
which sunk in the sea, but being in company with 
other ships, the crew were saved by boat. So after 
after having been four years in the province of 
Pennsylvania, I embarked for England, having 
taken leave of my friends in Pennsylvania, with 
hopes I should now see my native land, and 
dear parents and relations. 



JOHN CROKER. 289 

"Notwithstanding our vessel was alone, and it was 
-war time, we were in hopes that the Lord would 
carry us safe : we were preserved on the boisterous 
seas, until, according to the opinion of the sailors, 
we were within one hundred leagues of England, 
when we met with three ships. The master of our 
vessel (who was a Friend) was willing to speak 
with those vessels, to know what news in England, 
though persuaded to the contrary by his mate, who 
feared what they might be ; but to our great trouble 
and sorrow^, they proved to be three French priva- 
teers, who soon bid us strike 5 and presently they 
hoisted out their boats, and came and stripped us 
almost naked, and dispersed us, some on board one 
ship, and some on board another, and afterwards they 
separated themselves; for one of those ships went 
for France with our vessel, and the other two were 
parted in a mist, so that they could not see each 
other, nor come together again, This fresh exer- 
cise brought more than a common fear upon me, 
(I being in one of those ships that remained at sea,) 
fearing how I should be dealt with, and what suf- 
ferings I should undergo. I was, in respect of 
clothes, almost naked, and destitute of relief, beyond 
what our enemies would be pleased to bestow; 
whose hearts God so far opened towards us, that 
we did not want for bread or water, and sometimes 
were allowed pork, beef, peas, and beverage, and 
at certain times a draught of sour wine ; yet still I 
was in fear, not knowing whither we should be 
carried. 

The ship in which we were, being a privateer of 

twenty-six guns, and out at sea on that account, she 

sailed far northw T ard, until we fell in amono-st 

islands of ice, and were forced to lie by in the 

u 



290 THE LIFE OF 

night, for fear we should run amongst some of these 
islands, or great rocks of ice. For about six weeks 
I took my rest on the boards in the ship's hold, in 
which time they chased one vessel, which, when 
they came near to her, was thought to be too 
mighty for them, and the ship wherein we were 
being the better sailer, they let the said vessel pass 
without examining what she was ; but soon after they 
took a Dutch ship bound for Newfoundland, which 
had little on board, only ballast and a few cheeses ; 
which vessel and men they rifled, and took the 
vessel with them to Newfoundland; and as we 
drew near it, they put us on shore upon a small 
island or rock, (which lay between some other 
islands,) upon which there was no house, nor any 
fresh water or shelter. Being twenty-eight of u& 
in number, they gave us a sail and some oars and 
poles, to make a tent ; in which we all lay without 
any beds, having only some straw, which they 
brought us, and stones for our pillows r with which 
we were forced to be contented : yet I found 
God's providence was over me, so that I was pre- 
served healthy and sound. Oh ! the great good- 
ness of God is fresh in my mind, now at the time 
of my writing this, and I hope the impression of it 
will remain as long as I live ; so that I may never 
forget what I met with in my youth, and how the 
Lord preserved me through it all. 

The French used once or twice a week to visit 
us, and bring us some spruce beer, water, pork, 
peas, and plenty of bread ; of the bread we eat 
sparingly, laying up some in store against a time of 
scarcity, fearing such might come ; the bread we 
hid in some of the hollow rocks, that it might not 
hinder or stop them from bringing or supplying us 



JOHN CROKER. 291 

with more as usual. There were also about our 
rock, or little island, plenty of lobsters, of which 
we caught some, and boiled, and ate, which were 
a great help to us ; and although we were not in 
any great want considering our circumstances, yet 
we were but thinly clothed, and the season not very 
hot; — I having left me only one shirt, one pair of 
breeches, and a hat; until some taking compassion 
on-4ne, gave me a thin linsey-woolsey frock, one old 
shirt, and an old pair of stockings and shoes, for 
which I was very thankful. 

In this mean condition, I with the rest continued 
on this island about six weeks, in which time we 
contrived our escape. There was an island at about 
half a mile distance from us, which was inhabited 
by the French for the fishing, whose boats went 
to and fro by us almost every day ; and there were 
also on our island, some pieces of boards and wood, 
which had been used, I suppose, by the French- 
men, at times when they dried fish there, and were 
by them left ; their boats were also lying at a wharf 
on the said inhabited island, but guarded, as we 
afterwards understood, though then unknown to us. 
We one clay took particular notice of one of their 
boats, which, with several others, lay near the said 
wharf; and our men proposed in the night by a 
float, to endeavour to swim out and get the said 
boat. We, therefore, made a raft, by tying together 
with rope-yarn such wood and boards as we found 
on the island, and two of our men, notwithstanding 
several privateers were lying by us as a guard, were 
so courageous, that they adventured in the night to 
stand on this raft we had made, and put off towards 
the boat which we had observed. Having got to her, 
they found nobody in her, and the watch or guard 
u2 



292 THE LIFE OF 

being in their huts very busy in discourse, those 
two men cut the moorings of the boat, and let her 
fall off with the tide which was going out, and 
brought the boat towards us ; by their help, we 
attained the same, which made us rejoice. 

There happened (far beyond expectation) to be 
in the boat, oars, sails, a compass, some pork and 
butter, a tinder box and candle, with materials for 
striking fire; also some of the Frenchmen's jerkins, 
made of lamb skins, with the wool inward, and a 
pottage pot, an axe, and some fishing lines ; all 
which were very needful and serviceable to us, and 
gave us cause of admiration, as if Divine Providence 
had worked for our deliverance. We soon got 
what we had into the boat, having in six weeks time 
saved about two hundred weight of bread, which 
was now of great service ; and such of us as were 
willing, being in number twenty-five, got into the 
boat, leaving seven, who were of fearful hearts, behind 
us,— our number having been increased since our 
being put ashore on the island, they having added 
more to us. And we the said twenty-five, trusting 
ourselves to Divine Providence, put off for the 
main ocean, amidst the mighty waves of a trouble- 
some sea, not without divers fears lest we should 
be taken again by our enemies, or swallowed up by 
the great waters, the waves of which grew very 
high and dreadful : for although it did not rain, 
yet we could not keep ourselves dry, because the 
sea broke and ran so high over our boat, that some 
of us were forced with our hats to be often casting 
the water out, while others managed her by rowing 
and sailing. After being three nights and two days 
in this open boat, through the good hand of Provi- 
dence, we arrived at the wilderness part ofNewfound- 



JOHN CHOKER. 293 

land, (where were no inhabitants,) being almost 
wearied out ; but before we w r ent on shore we cast 
our hook and line, and it proved to be on the right 
side of our boat, for we soon caught some famous 
cod fish, which we carried ashore, and making a 
fire dressed them, and there we satisfied our hunger. 
We then made a great fire on the beach, and laid 
ourselves down to rest ; and for my part, I think 
I may say, I never slept more sweetly in a bed, 
than I did on those stones, notwithstanding the im- 
pression of them remained in my sides for some 
time afterwards. I cannot forget to bless God for 
this deliverance, and to admire his wonderful provi- 
dence, who had preserved us, and given me strength 
and health to undergo such hardships, — who, when 
with my parents, had been brought up in the full 
plenty of all things needful. 

* O ! Lord, keep me in the remembrance of these 
things, that I may ever trust in thee.' This I believe 
was a day of tender love to my soul, whereby I 
was to be humbled, and brought to a sense of my 
former misspent time ; that I might no more seek my 
own ways, but give up in obedience to the leadings 
of God's holy Spirit, which leads out of the broad 
way into the narrow way of life and peace ; and 
this sweetens all afflictions, and leads to glorify the 
name of the Lord, who is worthy for ever. 

In the morning we got into our boat again, and 
committed ourselves for direction to George Stid- 
son, who was mate of our former ship, and had for- 
merly been in these parts, and knew most of the 
places of fishery in Newfoundland* About the 
middle of the day we came to the entrance of a 
small fishing place > I think called Renuse. It 
being war time, the inhabitants, (who were but few,) 



294 THE LIFE OF 

were greatly surprised by reason of our number, 
fearing we were come to rob them; and with what 
men and arms they had, they appeared very furiously 
against us, to oppose our landing; so that we were 
afraid they would without mercy have fired on us 
and taken away our live*, before they knew what 
we were. At length, with signs and loud words, 
to let them know what we were, we stopped their 
intention ; and they sent a single man to us in a 
small boat, who, finding we were all English, and 
had no arms, but were poor, ragged, and distressed 
men, they invited us kindly ashore, by the name of 
brothers ! This I looked on as a fresh deliverance 
from the point of death ; for if they had fired on 
us, no doubt but some of us had been killed. 
When we came on shore, they treated us with a 
good fire, spruce beer, and broiled fish; this was 
grateful to our hungry stomachs and weary bodies, 
and the best return we had to make them for the 
favours we received, was our thankful acknow- 
ledgments, and to give them an account of what we 
had met with ; which so far opened their hearts, 
that they desired our stay awhile with them. The 
spruce beer is what they make in those countries 
from the spruce tree. 

We stayed with them two or three days, and then 
with returns of thanks took our leave of them, and 
went into our boat again, intending to keep along 
near the shore, until we came to some place where 
we might meet with shipping. So like wayfaring 
men we called at a place or two, and tarried a niirht ; 
when the people hearing of us before we came, en- 
tertained us cheerfully, for which we were thankful. 
At length we came to a cove, called Todes Cove, 
where they had not heard of us before, and our 



JOHN CROKER. 



295 



coining surprised them, that they repaired to their 
arms ; but they became soon sensible what we were, 
and let us come on shore. There was but one 
dwelling at that place, the master's name, as I re- 
member, was Dier ; he had many servants, and 
cured much fish : he entertained us with much civi- 
lity, and we stayed and helped him about his fish 
several days. Here our mate (the chief amongst 
us) fell dangerously ill, which proved an exercise 
to us all, and to me in particular, for I had a kind- 
ness for him, he being always civil to me, both 
before we were taken by the French, and after, 
during the time we were together : so we took the 
best care of him we could, and wrapping him very 
warm, laid him on a hand-barrow, and carried him 
to the boat ; and taking leave of our noble land- 
lord, we made what haste we could to the Bay of 
Bulls, where he had an aunt, to whose care we left 
him, and hastened to a place called St. Johns, 
(where we understood lay a fleet of ships,) hoping 
to meet with a passage for England : but when we 
came there we found they were bound to Cadiz and 
Bilboa. 

Now my sorrow began afresh, and as great as 
ever ; for I not being a sailor, and but about seven- 
teen years of age, not any of the ships would admit 
me as a passenger, fearing they should not be paid 
for my passage ; and a sailor they did not look upon 
me to be. My fellow-prisoners and companions dis- 
persed themselves, some in one ship and some in 
another, and disposing of the boat and materials, 
turned all to their own use, leaving me destitute of 
friends, relations, acquaintances, and money, in a 
strange country, — having nothing wherewith to 
make friends, unless the Lord was pleased to raise 



296 THE LIFE OF 

some up for me. To Him, therefore, I made my 
complaint in secret : and I was willing to be as 
contented as I could, taking my walks amongst the 
inhabitants, who were generally kind, and gave me 
at their houses bread and fish, when I looked for it. 
When night came I lodged in an open boat, or in 
a hay-loft, such as I could most conveniently meet 
with. I was but very thinly clothed, and dirty for 
want of change : and the cold winter was coming 
on, which is grievously hard in those countries : the 
ships were hastening away for fear of the frost, and 
no more were expected that season : — all these cir- 
cumstances increased my sorrow, and my near 
approaches to God in these great straits, — that he 
would be pleased to spare me, and work a way for 
my deliverance out of that country ; and I would 
serve him according to the abilities of strength and 
wisdom, which he might in his love be pleased to 
bestow on me : at which times I brought myself 
under promises, which I desire, at the writing of 
this, the Lord would please to bring to my remem- 
brance, — that if I have not performed them, I may 
strive with all diligence to the performance of them ; 
for he is good and worthy to be served by all who 
have received the least of his mercies and favours. 
— l Lord, humble the hearts of the people; — bring 
them to see their own outgoings, and what any of 
us are without thee, who art the alone help of thy 
people ; — when all men forsake them, thou hast 
worked a way for them un thought of, as thou didst 
for the least of many thousands.' 

Before the fleet sailed, I heard that there was 
one vessel that was bound for Bristol, with train 
oil and fish, one Barrister being owner or master : 
to him I made my application, laying before him 



JOHN CROKER. 297* 

my distressed condition, which I believe he was not 
insensible of; but, like one of a hard heart, he would 
not admit me a passage in his vessel, unless I paid 
him three pounds before I went, which I could not' 
do, being not worth threefarthings. This made me 
mourn to see him so hard, and with a heavy heart 
I went on shore ; but still being earnest to try him 
the second time, I entreated him again for a passage, 
desiring him to consider my condition, and that he 
was sensible I had not then wherewith to pay him, 
but he should be faithfully paid when I came to 
England ; all which seemingly made no impression 
on him ; so that my countenance began to show the 
sorrow of my heart, and tears began to fall from my 
heavy eyes ; and I passed from his presence without 
any hope. But in an unexpected manner the Lord 
was pleased to order it thus : — there was a merchant 
on board with this Barrister, who, perceiving the 
sorrowfulness of my countenance, came after me 
with compassion, as one sensible of my grief, and 
desired to know my name and the place of my birth, 
which I readily told him ; he then inquired my 
father's name and trade, and in what part of the 
town of Plymouth he lived, which I told him like- 
wise. It so struck him, that he said, 'what, are 
you his son ? — how came you in this condition ? I 
am sorry to see you thus ; for I know him/ (mean- 
ing my father.) i Well, I would not have you trouble 
yourself, for you shall go for England, if I pay 
your passage ; and my wife (said he,) is going in 
the same vessel, and whatever you want, apply to 
her, and she shall assist you.' 

This sudden alteration brought renewed thank- 
fulness upon my heart to God, the author of all 



298 THE LIFE OF 



these favours and deliverances, that in such an un- 
thought of way, when my expectations were laid 
aside, He should raise up a friend to make way 
for my returning to England. I have cause to 
remember these things ■ although I had another 
sharp season to pass through, before I set my feet 
in my native land, which was then hid from me, 
but was after the following manner : — After this my 
•great friend, (whose name was Strong, a brother to 
one of the same name, a schoolmaster in Plymouth,) 
had made way for me, by promising payment for 
my passage, and I was got on board the ship ; the 
master being a wicked base fellow, after we were 
out at sea, would not let me have a cabin, but 
I was forced to lie between two hogsheads of train 
oil. This was hard lodging, — yet necessity obliged 
me to be as contented as I could ; and I can truly 
say, my lot was often made sweet to me ; for the 
thoughts and meditations of my heart were very 
often upon the law of my God, and I had comfort and 
delighted myself therein. Yet having nothing but 
my weanng clothes day or night to keep me warm, 
which had not been washed or changed for two 
months ; I need not relate how it was with me. 
But not to leave the reader ^vithout some charity 
towards the master, I may let him know that he 
afterwards dealt with me somewhat more favour- 
ably; for having lodged some nights in this condi- 
tion, he gave me an old sail, to lay under me, or 
partly over me as I pleased ; for which I was 
thankful to God, being a favour I wanted, and also 
thankful to the master for showing some good nature. 
The sense of what I had met with, and the good- 
ness of God which I had experienced in it, with the 
consideration of my former transgressions, drew me 



n- 



JOHN CROKER. 299 

into tenderness of heart and brokenness of spirit, so 
that my very head and hair would be wet with 
tears ; and the Lord was often near unto me in his 
goodness. Oh ! that I may never forget that day ! 
— but that it may be imprinted upon my mind, and 
engraven on my heart, as with a point of a diamond, 
that I may always have it in my view ; that when 
I may meet with afflictions in my older years, I 
may look back to the days of my youth, like Job, 
—who desired it might be with him as in the days of 
his youth, when the secret of God was upon his 
tabernacle, and in whose light he walked through 
darkness ; which dark ways the Lord hath in some 
measure now given me to see, by the lifting up the 
light of his countenance upon me. For I am not 
able to express the seasons that I had upon the 
mighty waters during that great affliction, — which 
makes me say, it was good for me that I was 
afflicted, or else I had gone astray ; for now I know 
of thy judgment, O Lord, — and I can praise thee 
for thy manifold mercies, which are lengthened out 
beyond my deserts : and what shall I render to 
thee, O Lord, for them all, but holy praises and 
high renown for ever ! 

Now to proceed, after about ten or twelve days 
sail, having had pretty good weather and wind 
most of the time, we unexpectedly in the night, fell 
in with the Land's End of Cornwall, on the north 
side of it ; the wind increasing blew us in very near 
land, which put the seamen in a fright, believing 
they should all be drowned, and the vessel wrecked ; 
for the wind rent our mainsail in pieces, which occa- 
sioned a great outcry and trouble to get another to the 
yard. During this I lay still, believing it not fit for me 
to appear amongst them at that time, their fury being 



300 THE LIFE OF 

great towards each other : so I lay as much retired 
as I could, with my mind freely given up to death, 
if the Lord did so please ; at which time I thought 
I enjoyed abundance of sweetness in my heart, and 
the thought of death was nothing, the sting being 
taken away. I heard the master say, there was not 
a soul likely to be saved, and that he and another 
would get into the long boat, and the rest should 
shift for themselves ; — this he said several times. 
But it pleased God, who commandeth both wind 
and sea, and sayeth — " thus far and no farther shalt 
thou come," that the wind began to turn easterly ; 
so that with some nicety as well as Providence, 
(day coming on,) we weathered the Land's End. 
Now there being some hopes, I was willing to see 
what danger we had been in, therefore I got upon 
the deck, and I think, had I thrown a stone, I 
might have struck the rock; — this I accounted 
another great deliverance. 

The wind still continuing high, we came up the 
South Channel before Plymouth, my native town, 
as far as Dartmouth in Devon, and we ran in 
there. The wind being very strong, before we could 
come to an anchor, our foreyard arm broke, and we 
went a-head of all the ships which were then in 
that road. At length we dropped our anchor, but 
it did not hold, so that we drove until we were 
astern of all those ships, and no boats were able to 
come and help us, so that some cried out we must 
go ; but at last the anchor held, and we weathered 
it that night, and the next morning the wind ceased, 
so that the boats came to us, and helped us in, 
where we lay safe, and seemed to be out of danger 
of the sea, and of the privateers which were on it. 
Thus I was likely to put my feet again on English 



JOHN CROKEIt. 301 

ground, and but about thirty miles from my father's 
house. Before this, my father had heard of my being 
taken, but could not understand where I was, and 
had sent several letters to France, and supplies were 
ordered for me there, but he could not hear of me ; 
so he concluded I was not in the land of the living. 
This was cause of sorrow to my parents to think, 
if they had not sent me away, I might have been 
living ; but, however, it all worked together for my 
good, and I believe God had a hand in it. 

Now, being come ashore, and having escaped 
from being imprest by reason of my being but a 
youth (for most of the men were imprest into the 
Xing' s service, to help to man out the fleet, which 
lay then at Plymouth,) the master took me to one 
Lane, a merchant, at Dartmouth, to whom I gave 
a bill on my father for my passage. As soon as 
the merchant understood on whom I could draw 
the bill, he began to look at me, and compassion 
was opened in him towards me ; and he offered me 
what money I would have, being sorry to see me in 
such a condition, for he said he knew my father 
well. So I took some money of him, and some of 
another man, who was going with me to Plymouth ; 
at which place I now, indeed, longed to be, having 
called to mind my father's house, like a prodigal 
son now returning thither. Therefore, after I had 
bought a few things to shift me, which I soon did 
'to my great refreshment, I, in company with the 
seamen that were imprest, set out and went for 
Plymouth, and unexpectedly came to my father's 
door; where I found my dear mother first, to whom 
there was not a quick discovery ; but after some 
discourse, I made myself known to her, who with 
open arms received me, being as one that had been 



302 THE LIFE OF 

dead and was now alive again, and hoping this trial 
w r ould work for my future good. This I am sensible 
it did ; — for it so humbled me, that I was often think- 
ing on what I had met with, and how the Lord had 
preserved me, which made me very humble and 
low in my mind, taking heed to the commands of 
my parents ; and I feared to rebel against them, and 
minded what company I kept, being now willing to 
be as good as I could. 

I spent some time in reading alone, and frequented 
meetings both abroad and at home, sometimes 
going ten miles to a meeting and home again at 
night on foot, with much satisfaction. 

My careful parents, who now began to take some 
comfort in me, being willing I should learn some 
trade, which I was myself free to do, gave me 
liberty to choose my trade, and in what city or 
town I pleased ; and in order thereunto, my father 
put some money into my hand, and bid me try, by 
looking amongst tradesmen. So I rode to Exeter, 
and intended, if I could not please myself there, to 
go for London, it being about the time of the Yearly 
Meeting, and I between seventeen and eighteen years 
of age, as I suppose. When I came to Exeter, I 
thought a fuller or tucker was a good trade ; so with 
the assistance of a Friend, I agreed with one who 
was of that business, and was accounted a civil man, 
but not one called a Quaker. He traded mostly to 
Holland ; I was to serve him six years, and he was 
to have thirty pounds paid him at the time of sealing 
my indentures, and eighty pounds if he sent me to 
Holland the two last years. My father seemed to 
be pleased with it, and I went forward with my 
apprenticeship. But, alas ! I found myself exposed 
to many temptations ; for my master proved to be 



JOHN CROKER. 303 

an ill- company keeper, and a night playing man ; 
which caused me often to walk the streets in the 
night, to search the taverns and alehouses for him, 
or else I had no peace at home with my mistress. 
Sometimes he would come home with me pretty 
contentedly, and at other times would be in a 
passion, and sometimes keep me up with him all 
night, several times tempting me to play, offering 
to lay wagers on me, that I would worst the com- 
pany at cards, — which I dared not meddle with, but 
always put him off with desires to go home, and 
urging that my mistress waited up for him. Some- 
times I prevailed with him, and sometimes not ; so 
that I have been forced to sleep in the chimney 
corner, and in the morning to take a nap and rise 
up to work. I am no way accused in myself, that 
I ever spent any idle time in his service : but I was 
as diligent as I could be, to serve both of them ; and 
being conscientious, I believed I ought to serve 
them to the utmost I could, in what was lawful and 
not burthensome to my conscience. 

My master, following this course of life, was, in 
about two years after I came to him, forced to put 
himself into the Mint, (a prison so called ;) and 
what he had left was seized, and the very goods 
of his house were carried away ; so that his wife 
and children were forced to retire to her father's, 
and myself to seek fresh business, or another 
master. This brought fresh care upon me, for I was 
willing to attain to a business if it could be ; but 
being a Quaker, few would be concerned with me : 
so I worked as a journeyman, and lodged at a 
Friend's house, boarding myself. At length, find- 
ing my stay was not likely to avail me much, I 
concluded to return to my father who readily 



304 THE LIFE OF 

received me, and 1 set myself at work in my elder 
brother's trade, being a serge weaver ; and to comb- 
ing of wool I went, and earned six or seven shillings 
a week by my work, which brought me in money 
for a time. It was not long before my father 
bought an estate in the county of Cornwall ; he was 
a tobacconist, and it being war time he laid down 
all business, and retired into the country, and 
lived in a house with my elder sister, who was 
married to Francis Fox, a shopkeeper at Germains, 
where my father and mother remained until their 
death, and then my eldest brother went thither. 

My father having left me a room at Plymouth, I 
continued there and lived retired, doing little for a 
livelihood in the w r orld, spending most of my time 
in reading, and did some small matter in purse 
making, which I generally gave away. My desires 
often were to the Lord, that he would be pleased 
to open a way of some business for me, that I 
might be taken off from such inconvenience as 
did sometimes attend by reason of idleness, which 
often brought sorrow in calling over the actions 
of the day. For setting them in order before 
the judge of my conscience, those things which 
were done amiss brought trouble, which caused 
sorrow and tears, as well as prayers that the Lord 
would pass them by, and open of his wisdom 
more and more in my heart, and that I might not 
act contrary to his mind. For those, which some 
call small things, and not worth minding, caused 
me sore exercise, so that I found a daily cross was 
to be kept to, in the management of words and con- 
versation in this world ; or else a good state might 
be soon lost, which I was under the fear of : and I 
found, when I had considered of those things 



JOHN CROKER. 



305 



which I had done, spoke, or acted in the fear of 
God, it always brought peace ; and I took my rest 
with true content in the will of God, however he 
might be pleased to deal with me in the night season. 
The Lord preserve my dear children in this state, 
where they may often inquire within themselves, 
(for whose sake I am willing to leave these things,) 
and that they may learn obedience, and serve the 
God of their father, who wonderfully preserved him 
by sea and land, and brought him through many 
perils and straits of various kinds; for which I 
have reason to bless God, to whom be glory given 
for evermore ! 

Soon after this period, (viz. about the year 1695,) 
the Lord was pleased to deprive me of my dear 
and honourable mother, who was in her day a noble 
woman for Truth, and who retained her integrity to 
God, and love to Friends to the end : I doubt not 
but she resteth in peace with the Lord. This was 
a trying time to me, and it made an impression on my 
very countenance. I then retired into the country to 
my father, who was soon after brought to his bed by 
reason of a sore distemper in his feet. So I waited 
on him, and to keep myself from idleness and get 
a little money, I put forward some small business, 
which was spinning of tobacco, my father's former 
occupation. 

My dear mother had always been a great help to 
me in my spiritual exercises, being sensible there 
was something at work in my heart which wanted 
to be perfected ; and she would be very tender, and 
help me what she could. I had not courage to 
make my mind known to any after her decease, 
although my heart was many times loaded more 
heavily than I could bear, not knowing the reason 
of it ; but in private places I sought relief by tear? 



306 THE LIFE OF 

and prayers, which no mortal besides myself did 
know of, unless it was by the alteration in my 
countenance and deportment, which might visibly 
appear : although I always behaved as cheerfully 
when in company as I could ; but I am persuaded 
my dear mother had some sense of it, and that her 
prayers were heard on my behalf. 

I now began to think of a settled life, and I had 
cast my eye on a virtuous young woman, the daugh- 
ter of John and Margery Peters, of Minver, in the 
county of Cornwall. I was not hasty in proceeding, 
but well considered .t, and laid the thing before the 
Lord in my heart, desiring, that if it were not the 
Lord's pleasure it should be so, he would remove 
it out of my mind, or else that he would increase 
my love towards her, which I found still continued 
with me. But when I was retired before the Lord 
I could think of her with abundance of sweetness, 
although I had not seen her for sometime, nor ever 
(that I remember) had been in her company above 
twice, she living at about twenty-six miles distance 
from me, and I had not been more than once at 
their house, although often invited by her parents. 

While I was thus impressed, and none knew 
it but myself and Him that knows the secrets 
of all hearts, I heard there was one of greater 
worth in the world than myself, endeavouring 
to gain her affections. Then I thought, if she 
did not answer him, after it was at an end,' I 
would make known my feelings. Sometime after 
I heard the other was put by, I then made 
my mind known to my father, and desired his 
thoughts : to which he did not seem very incli- 
nable, saying, he did not know ; i but/ said he, 
' I love her parents, and would not have thee to 
be too hasty.' So I waited sometime longer, and I 



JOHN CROKER. 307 

then spoke to my father again, who said; if I could 
not be easy without it, I might go and see her, 
which I thought was sufficient. I therefore set 
forward ; and when I came there, I opened my mind 
to her father and mother, who wanted to know if I 
had my father's consent in this matter. I told 
them I had, and that without their leave, I should 
not mention anything to their daughter, whom I 
truly loved ; so f they thought proper, I would 
leave the consideration of it with them and go home, 
or by their leave, I would mention the same to my 
dear friend, their daughter. On this they were 
silent for a time, so I took the opportunity of walk- 
ing in the fields a little while, and then came in and 
spent the evening in conversation with the father, 
mother, and daughter. Next day I had the liberty 
to make known my mind to my dear friend Anne. 
So having an opportunity after some little time, I 
let her know what had been in my mind, desiring 
her to take it into consideration ; to which she said 
it was of great moment, and there was need of time, 
for she desired not to enter into any such engage- 
ments until she was well satisfied : so I went home 
to my father, and acquainted him how things were, 
and he hoped it would be well. 

Now being come to the twenty-second year of 
my age, having in my time passed through various 
states, especially straits and great disappointments, 
and being about to enter into the state of marriage, 
I proposed to myself some comfort, believing I was 
going to be joined to a true help-mate, as well in 
relation to spiritual as temporal things, and that the 
Lord would favour us with his goodness and bless- 
ing together in this world. So in seasonable time 
we accomDlished our intentions of marriage, to the 
x 2 



308 THE LIFE OP 

good liking and well wishes of our relations and 
friends, being satisfied the Lord sanctioned our 
affections, and that by his Spirit we were united.* 

* Respecting John Peters, the young woman's father, 
the following particulars, by way of testimony, are given 
by Thomas Gwin, of Falmouth, in a small volume printed 
1709, entitled, " A Brief Narrative of the Life of John 
Peters." 

" Mine acquaintance with him was of above thirty 
years standing : in which time, having had frequentlv 
the benefit of his company, both at home and abroad, 
I never observed any carriage or deportment in him, 
but what was savoury, and becoming the Gospel. He 
had a well ordered family, which he governed with dis 
cretion, bringing up his young ones in the fear of the Lord ; 
though but one, and that a good son, survived him. He 
bore admirably and sweetly the sad providences that at- 
tended him, when it pleased the Lord to take away his tender 
children, not only those that died young, but those aido 
who were grown up, and were very sober and hopeful. 
He laboured faithfully in the Lord's vineyard, both in 
doctrine and discipline ; yet took great care, if possible, to 
give offence to none, so as to drive them further from the 
truth. He was of the mind of the husbandman in the 
parable, who would not presently have the fruitless tree cut 
down, but would dig about it, and try it one year longer. 
Yet lie was very zealous against all enormities, and undue 
liberties ; labouring, if possible, to reclaim such as wan- 
dered thereinto, and, if not, to testify against them, that 
the profession of the Truth might be cleared. His ministry 
was sound and living, tending more to the reaching of the 
heart, than the tickling of the ear. And as his ministry 
was very intelligible, and attended with plainness, and 
demonstration, and power, to the piercing of many hearts, 
and the tendering the souls of those that heard him, and 
to the binding up the broken hearted, and comforting the 
mourners ; so his conversation and behaviour answered 
and came up to it, — being full of gravity and solidity: never 
un-preaching in his behaviour and carriage, what he deli- 
vered as doctrine. I have given but short touches con- 
cerning the life and labours of this servant of (rod ; but in 
fine, his life was a life of diligence, and of fkithfalness, and 
of much exercise, which he cheerfully underwent for the 
Truth's sake. The love of God, the divine origin and 
well-spring of virtues, ruled in his heart ; and in that low 
lie lived, laboured, and passed the time of his sojourning 
here: and the sweet sense thereof did greatly adorn h|fl 



JOHN CHOKER. 



309 



We resided with our father and mother Peters, 
and carried on some business, which was blest, and 
we increased in this world's goods ; for which we 
were greatly thankful to God, and the thoughts 
thereof often humbled our souls, so that we were 
not unmindful of praising God for it. Yet there 
remained something with me, which often led me 
into solitary walks and private retirements, some- 
times into prayer, and sometimes I read, and some- 
times I sat still, as one waiting to hear ; the reason 
hereof I knew not, — for I was careful not to offend 
God in anything which I knew he required of me : 
yet still it increased, insomuch that morning and 
evening, it became my constant practice to retire ; 
at which times I cried, and desired the Lord would 
be pleased to make known of his mind to me, that 
then I would obey him, if it were to the giving up 
of my natural life. 

At last it was discovered to me ; — but then I 
wanted signs and tokens, that I might be certain it 
was the Lord's requiring, — fearing, because the 
enemy, working many times in a mystery, had de- 
ceived many : and he was likely to have reasoned 
all good out of me, and made me prove disobe- 
dient to the call of God, though not without a 
desire of performing his will. However I thought 
if this or the other stranger would speak to my 
condition, or tell me what God required of me, I 
would not then consult with flesh and blood any 

languishing bed and last moments of time, and therein he 
had sweet peace under all his afflictions and sore dis- 
temper : in which love he finished his course, and con- 
cluded his days, and is fallen asleep in the Lord. His 
body was interred the thirteenth of the Seventh month. 
1708, at the burying ground of our Friends at Minver. 



310 



THE LIFE OF 



longer. So it pleased God to answer my desire ; 
for several spake to me and bid me be faithful : and 
upon a time, on a First day morning, as I was walk- 
ing alone, and more out of thought than usual, it 
opened in me like a voice, saying, < This day will I 
open thy mouth, if thou art faithful to me ;' it 
seemed to surprise me, and being willing to be more 
acquainted with this voice, I turned myself about, 
and walked further into the orchard, desiring the 
Lord to be wisdom and strength to me ; and it rested 
with me that that was the day of the trial of my 
obedience. So I went home, and prepared for the 
meeting, to which most of our family went. I sat 
retired, until at last the word of the Lord was with 
me as a fire ; my father and mother-in-law Peters, 
both took a little time in the meeting, — which I 
thought had relation to me, and my then present 
exercise ; yet, I found it hard to give up : but being 
sensible it was my duty, at the latter part of the 
meeting I spake a few words ; and, although it was 
a little out of my season, yet I was thereby as one 
discharged of a £reat and heavy load, and comfort 
came into my soul ; so that I found it was good to 
obey the Lord. Bein^ faithful in the few tiling, 
he made me ruler over more ; so that I found it 
often my place to speak a few words, and began to 
be concerned for the discipline of Truth, that it might 
be kept up, and its first and primitive simplicity 
maintained amongst us ; that we might not only 
profess the principles, but also be found like the 
first proselytes of Truth in this island, in plainness 
of dress and fewness of words, as well as fearfulness 
of running: after the jiain of riches, or too much 
frequenting the conversation of the people of the 



JOHN CROKER. 311 

world ; because there were many snares and dangers 
in it, which many incline after, respecting which, 
at times, I was concerned both to speak and write. 

Thus, for about three years I passed my time, in 
the enjoyment of a tender and affectionate wife, who 
truly feared the Lord, and with whom I had great 
comfort ; and we were a strength and rejoicing to 
each other. But at length it pleased the Lord to 
take from me my dear wife in child-bed, in the 
year 1699. What shall I say ; — it was a near part- 
ing and a sharp exercise : yet, I was made to say, 
surely the Lord is good, let him do as it pleaseth 
him, and who dares to speak hardly, or say why 
doest thou so ? Job said, the Lord gives and he 
takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. God 
knows what is best for us, better than we ourselves ; 
therefore I will labour to be contented in his will, 
and to follow after that ; hoping we may meet again 
where all disappointments are at an end : for all 
things here are uncertain, and man is born to 
trouble, as the sparks fly upwards ; there is no 
dependence on anything below the sun, therefore 
my dependence shall be in the right arm of His 
salvation ; hoping he will carry me through this vale 
of tears, — and how soon, the Lord only knoweth ; 
I desire not length of days, but that I may at last 
finish my course in peace. 

Now passing on in my widowhood, I found I 
had some way or other received hurt ; for there 
seemed to come over me a cloud of thick darkness, 
so that my mouth was stopt for a time ; and I was as 
in a wilderness, having no comfort in meetings nor 
in retirements, but great temptation followed me, 
and it was with me sleeping and waking, insomuch 
that I was not able to follow my business. At last 



312 THE LIFE OF 

I thought I would make my state and exercise 
known to my then father and mother-in-law 
Peters, who were not only related to me by 
marriage, but were truly near in spirit. When 
they' had the knowledge of it, I had their advice ; 
and their prayers for me were not wanting, and I 
have reason to believe were answered; for in a 
little time the temptation began to grow weaker and 
weaker, — strength began to increase, — and light to 
shine out of darkness, which gave me to see the 
travail of my soul, and that it was good for me to 
be tried, — for I should thus be better able to speak to 
such as might be under the like affliction. Then 
I had a word to speak again for God amongst his 
people, and cheerfulness increased ; I also became 
fit for conversation with others, and followed my 
business, in which God blessed me, and I took 
delight in my friends. Although I lived four or 
five miles from our meeting, which was moveable, 
yet whatever I neglected, I attended that, if at 
home, on Fourth days as well as First days ; God 
knew what inclined me so to do, — it was my love to 
him and his truth, which was more to me than any- 
thing in this world. 

[It appears probable that it was during the pre- 
valence of the afore-mentioned exercise of mind, 
that the following solemn language was committed 
to writing.] 

1 O Lord, in secret to thee do I appeal, knowing 
thou canst hear, and often dost reward openly: at this 
time I make my complaint, because dryness is over 
my soul, and thy comfortable presence is not known, 
as when thou with the shining of thy brightness 
art pleased to arise. Yet in thee will I trust, having 



JOHN CROKETl. 313 

faith to believe, that in thy appointed time and after 
thy wonted manner, thou wilt appear unto my 
waiting soul, which is breathing unto thee under a 
deep sense of the great want I at this time suffer, — 
daily seeking thee and waiting for thy arisings ; 
that so this cloud may be removed, which hath long 
remained. I doubt my confidence will fail, although 
there is a resolution that, if thou appear not again, 
I will trust in thee ; — having tasted of thy loving- 
kindness, when thou wast pleased to appear, as a 
broad river sending forth pleasant streams of joy 
and consolation, by which my soul hath been 
refreshed. O my God, in judgment or in loving- 
kindness, I pray thee appear, that my hungry soul 
may be filled : for I long after thee, O Lord, and I 
cannot find refreshment as in days past ; yet I will 
not cease in secret to wait upon thee, or in silence to 
seek thee, because, there it was thou didst appear 
to my soul, and then it was that I was made willing 
to make a covenant with thee, — that if thou wouldest 
be with me, I would serve thee, my God, with a 
broken heart and an upright spirit ; which I desired 
thou wouldest be pleased to place within me, that I 
might never more go from thee in heart or mind. 
I can speak to thy praise, thou hast often made me 
a sharer thereof, as in stillness I have waited upon 
thee. O Lord I can crave from thee thy promise, 
that, for the ciy of the poor (Lord, who so poor 
as I?) and for the sighing of the needy, thou 
wouldest arise ; and who so needy as I ? who at this 
time want thee, and by the want of thee want all 
things. Oh ! how sad a thing it is to be over- 
shadowed as by a thick cloud, wherein great diffi- 
culties, as the buffettings of Satan, and the sugges- 
tions of the enemy, are ready to prevail. Therefore, 



314 THE LIFE OF 

for the sake of the needy, arise ; and let thy sun be 
seen to shine, whereby comfort may be conveyed to 
the soul. Lord, thou knowest it is my desire to be 
serviceable for thee and for thy truth ; therefore I 
have been willing in secret before thee to offer up 
all into thy disposing hand, to do with that and me 
as seemed good in thy sight — who art an all-wise 
God, and knowest best what is best for the work- 
manship of thy hands. So, O my God, in patience 
will I wait, until my change shall come, for thou 
only knowest how it is with me at this time. In 
straits I have sought thee, and in difficult seasons 
I have waited in stillness upon thee, and thou hast 
never failed me ; but according to thy good 
pleasure, hast broken in as a man of war, strong in 
power and excellent in might ; for thou didst over- 
come, and set the prisoner at liberty, who, by reason 
of thy withdrawing, was ready to say, thou hadst 
forsaken. What shall be said of thy loving-kind- 
ness and of thy tender mercies, but that thou art ? 
never-failing God in the midst of difficulties ; for 
although thou hidest thyself for a season, yet thou 
dost not wholly forsake, therefore what shall be 
said of thee ? Open my mouth, and I will shew 
forth of thy praise ; — speak but the word : thy fame 
is great in my soul, for my longing hath been great- 
after thee. Oh ! Lord, draw near as a counsellor 
to instruct me ; for I will wait at thy footstool, that 
I may be filled with wisdom ; for when I have 
inquired for the place of wisdom and of good under- 
standing, I have turned into the centre of my soul, 
where thou, that art wiser than Solomon, art found 
teaching by thy Spirit. Here is wisdom and 
understanding, and thou art giving it freely with- 
out money or price ; for nothing here, which thou 



JOHN CROKER. 315 

hast bestowed as an outward blessing on man, is 
able to purchase it. Therefore Lord, take all 
things here below that are thy blessings to me, 
rather than deprive me of the openings of wisdom 
to my soul ; for it is that which I have desired, and 
through many difficulties have travelled to obtain. 
And now, Lord, seeing I have found thee, I desire 
a blessing from thy hand, that so I may never 
depart from thee more; — be pleased to let thy pre- 
sence still be with me, that I may for ever be encom- 
passed therewith, — that I may always be in sight of 
thee, whom I have chosen to be my leader. If 
thou wilt not let my soul be in the fulness of com- 
fort, grant that my habitation may be always at 
the entrance of thy fulness, that whensoever thou 
openest, I may behold thy glory with delight, and 
that the sweetness that comes from thee may cause 
my heart to rejoice ; which may be an evident 
token that as I hold out to the end, I shall receive 
an entrance into rest for evermore.' 

I spent two years a widower, and made not any 
motion towards marriage, but was willing to see my 
way clear, and often desired the Lord would incline 
my heart to a suitable companion and help-meet in 
all states. I did not see that the happiness of man 
consisted in what he might have as to portion, be- 
cause the Lord is a portion to his, and those that put 
their trust in him, shall want nothing that is for 
their good, — which I had faith to believe, as I kept 
here, I should certainly witness. 

My honoured father Peters having a desire to 
visit some meetings in London, I accompanied him; 
and, as I found my heart engaged, I dropped a few 
words in meetings. So we went from Cornwall, 



316 THE LIFE OF 

through Devonshire, Somersetshire, and Hamp- 
shire, into Sussex; from whence we had the company 
of our friend Elizabeth Gates to London, whose 
company was very acceptable. We tarried the 
time of the Yearly Meeting, part of which was very 
comfortable : Friends seemed to have great affec- 
tion for each other, and there appeared to be a re- 
gard to the worthy name of the Lord, which had 
been great in Zion for the strengthening of her, that 
she might not be divided, nor her mighty men con- 
futed ; but that her peace might be as a river, and 
her brightness as the morning sun without clouds, 
— which was and is the travail of my soul. As to 
myself, I had a good and comfortable time there ; 
and after the Yearly Meeting was ended, I returned 
with my father and friend Elizabeth Gates to her 
father's at Horsham, and stayed thereabout a few 
days ; then going to a marriage at Shipley, we 
passed without having any other meeting, to Ring- 
wood in Hampshire, being about seventy miles, and 
then to Poole, thence through Dorsetshire and 
Devonshire, and so home. 

I was satisfied with my journey ; my father 
shewed a tender and fatherly care over me, as to 
the small gift I had, and my spiritual exercise, that. 
I might grow therein. 

[After his return home, his mind became en- 
gaged with a prospect of making proposals of mar- 
riage to his friend Elizabeth Gates, which was 
encouraged by his father and mother Peters, who 
loved his said friend E. G.] 

In some reasonable time, I acquainted her parents 
with my intentions, had their consent, and then mak- 
ing my mind fully known to my said friend, pre- 
vailed with her to agree to my proposals ; and in 



JOHN CROKER. 317 

sometime after I made it known to our monthly 
meeting. 

The Yearly Meeting in 1702 approaching, I was 
desirous to bring things about before the beginning 
of that meeting, so that we might be married soon 
after, hoping several friends from Cornwall might 
be at our marriage ; and accordingly there were, and 
also divers from London and other places ; so that 
we had a large meeting, and greatly to the satis- 
faction of us and others : for the goodness of the 
Lord attended our solemnity to our great comfort, 
and was as a seal of his divine favour, in bringing 
us together, and uniting our hearts in affinity of 
love. And whatever troubles or disappointments 
may have since happened, they have no ways 
lessened our affections ; and this has hitherto pre- 
served us as true help meets in the Lord, both in 
spirituals and temporals : for under any exercise 
either inward or outward, we have been as a succour 
and strength to each other ; for, had it not been so, 
the many things we met with, might have broken 
our union. 

So we came down into Cornwall, took a house, 
and settled at Liskeard ; and I found we had a ser- 
vice amongst Friends, and we were thankful to God 
for it, who never faileth them that put their trust in 
him. But after we had laboured under some diffi- 
culties, finding the things of this world did not 
answer, considering the increase of our family, and 
our willingness to be serviceable on Truth's account, 
not only to labour in word and doctrine for the pro- 
motion of the gospel, but also to entertain strangers 
and those of the household of faith, — my wife in- 
clined for her own country, hoping things might 
be better, and we more serviceable there : but I not 



318 



THE LIFE OF 



seeing the way for our removal veiy clearly, and 
my good old father and mother Peters, with other 
Friends, being unwilling to part with us hastily, 
were not very willing at first to consent to our re- 
moving, but laboured some time to prevent the same. 
At length finding things rather grew worse, — and 
the more so, because some unreasonable men had 
deprived me of that which was my chief income, I 
began to hearken to the request and desires of my 
wife; unto which Friends also now seemed a little to 
give way, fearing, I believe, lest they should be our 
hindrance, and so come under blame : and my father 
Gates, happening to die about the same time, there 
seemed to be a want of some person in his room. 
So, after nine years, having had four children, 
whereof three were living, we gave notice of a sale 
of our shop and household goods, and soon disposed 
of the same ; then, taking leave of our sorrowful - 
hearted relations and friends, in a tender and broken 
frame of spirit, to the melting of many into tears, 
upon the bended knees of both body and soul, we 
recommended each other to God, and to the pro- 
tection of his Divine Providence ; desiring the Lord 
might go with us and preserve us in the way we 
were to go, and give us food and raiment, wherewith 
we hoped to be content. He who knows all, knew 
it was not great things which we longed after, but 
that we might be his servants, and be serviceable in 
our short space of time, for the good of souls ; and 
we desired that he would be pleased to keep us in the 
remembrance of our friends, when far separated 
outwardly, that so we might be as epistles written 
in one another's hearts, — for the seasons which we 
had had together, were tendering and often melting. 
More I could say of this, for it was a day of days, 



JOHN CROKER. 319 

and not easily to be forgotten ; — the Lord bring it 
often to our remembrance, is what my soul desireth . 

Having thus spent a little time together with 
Friends and other sober neighbours, with many em- 
braces and hearty good wishes, we, with our little 
ones and necessary conveniences, set forward, being 
accompanied by Friends and others to a place where 
we ate and drank together : then taking our fare- 
well of them, we left the country, [in the Third 
month, 1711 ;] being only myself, wife, and three 
children, a friend J. S., (who in kindness came to 
assist us,) and our servant-maid. Being favoured 
with good horses, good roads, and fine weather, we 
met with very few disappointments ; for all which 
we were thankful to God, our great preserver. 

Now, having made my observations during the 
passage of some part of my pilgrimage, I see that 
there is much trouble attends this life, and he that 
will live godly in Christ Jesus, must suffer much, 
and bear all things with patience, and press forward 
to the mark for the prize of the high calling in God : 
and, I hope the Lord will preserve many in this 
labour, who will study peace with all men, and 
pursue it ; which that I may be found in, during 
the remaining part of my pilgrimage, is what I 
desire. 

End of the Memoir. 



[About a year after his removal into Sussex, he 
wrote a letter to his sister, Tabitha Fox, (formerly 
Croker,) widow of Francis Fox, of Germains, in 
Cornwall; from which the following is an extract :] 



320 THE LIPE OF 

Horsham, the 20th of Ninth month, 1712. 
Dear Sister, 
My desire is, that thou mayest be preserved through 
all thou mayest meet with in this thy pilgrimage, 
with a heart truly serving God; — for it is the heart 
he looks at. For by nature we are subject to many 
failings ; yet keeping to that of God in us, it always 
brings an awe and fear upon us, lest we should 
offend, — making our words few, and our behaviour 
solid, so that we may administer grace to such whose 
eye may be on us. May the Lord preserve us all, 
that we may keep ourselves from giving offence to 
any, — that we may be as way-marks to direct Sion's 
travellers ; — and, while God affords us a being here, 
that we may work the work of our day with faith- 
fulness. For there is need of such, as much as 
ever ; for many are fallen asleep in religion, and 
are careless about the principal part ; not seeking 
God with all their heart, and with all their soul, — 
to make him their sure rock and firm foundation, 
that they may stand the day of trial : but when 
provings have come, they have started aside like 
a broken bow, and as a tooth out of place, they have 
been rebellious. Oh! that such may not happen 
in our day, among them that make profession of the 
blessed appearance of the Spirit of God in them to 
be their guide and sole director : for if such fall 
away, what shall the poor and the afflicted say . } 
Surely, there is no dependence, but on the Lord, — nor 
reliance, but on the arm of His almighty power, 
which alone is the support of the faithful. Oh ! un- 
sold hath been led to consider of such things some- 
times, which hath made me in secret say, i Lord, 
seeing it is thus, what am I ! if thou stand not by 
me, surely I shall fall ; for, if such and such have 



JOHN CROKER. 321 

come short, what have I to depend on, who am 
little and as one of the least among many V Yet 
it hath risen in such a time in my mind, — Fear not, 
neither look at such things; for the Lord never 
leaves such as daily put their trust in Him ; but he 
will be a God nigh at hand for their preservation ; 
that when trials and provings come, if they can but 
patiently wait, as Israel, such shall see the salvation 
of God, and his wonderful dealings with them ; and 
testify thereof w T ith cheerfulness, for the help of 
others who may come under the like trial and 
exercise. 

Thus I have written, dear sister, in the freedom 
of my spirit at this time. God knows my heart, 
that my desire is, that every one who makes profes- 
sion of the Truth, may walk as becomes the same, 
in all manner of lowliness and humility, as becomes 
a people serving God. This, I hope, will be thy 
case and mine ; — that we may do all we can for the 
Truth, but nothing against it : that so, according to 
our small abilities, we may work the work of our 
day with faithfulness. Then assuredly the answer 
of " Well done/' will be our portion, — and then we 
need not fear ; for, although we may be tried as to 
the things of this life, yet God will take care for us 
at last : — To him be given glory and honour for 
evermore ! 

I conclude with our true love to thee and thy 
children, hoping that, as they grow in years, they 
may grow in the fear of the Lord. We shall be 
glad to hear of their welfare, not only in the things 
of this life, but in that which is durable, and will 
be lasting to them ; which is the sincere desire of 
thy affectionate brother, 

John Croeer. 



324 THE LIFE OF 

of thy father. Let this be thy principal concern, 
seek* first the kingdom of God, and the righteous- 
ness thereof, and all other things shall be added. 
This is the first and principal thing; then as thou 
findest freedom, thou mayest act farther, as God 
shall direct ; but ever mind to take the advice of the 
ancient and honest Friends, and weigh the affair well 
in thy own mind, lest by fond affections and foolish 
inclinations, thou be deceived. I have already in- 
formed thee where thy counsellor is, therefore mind 
to seek him ; he will never fail thee. Let not thy 
mind out too soon, whilst thou art young, but 
rather tarry until the years of twenty-five or thirty, 
and then thou wilt have consideration ; and God, 
if sought unto, will so direct thee, that thou mayest 
have a wife, who may be suitable for thee, and 
helpful to thee in all conditions, both spiritual and 
temporal ; for therein consisteth the great joy of a 
married life. Therefore be sure choose one, who 
cometh of an honest stock, and whose conversation 
is mostlv with the well inclined ; for if any delight 
to be full of idle discourse, the inclinations of such 
lead to vanity, and the end thereof will be sorrow ; 
from such turn away. ( boose one that is solid, 
whose words are few and savoury, and whose de- 
light is to be with the faithful, such as keep them- 
i B from the spots of the world. Choose not by 
the eve as to beauty, nor to the abundance she may 
have of this world, for I many have been 

deceived, and have found sorrow in the end ; but 
let the eye be to the better part. And when joined 
together, remember you twain be as one flesh ; love 
her and cherish her, as become^ a faithful husband ; 
be not froward, but mild and gentle, full of love 
and condescension, bearing and forbearing, doing 



JOHN CROKER. 



32o 



all things with a meek and quiet spirit, by which 
God will be honoured, and love increase, so that 
nothing; will seem too much, that can be done 
for each other. In this way thou wilt reap a great 
deal of peace, and enjoy abundance of good from 
the hand of God ; for thus thou wilt be happy in 
this life, and it will be a means to prepare thee for 
the life that is to come ; in which you will be often 
instructing each other to your great edification. 
And when troubles of this world happen, in which 
thou must expect to meet with a share, you will be 
a help and great rejoicing one to another : and 
happy will thy life be in such an one, for she will 
be contented with thee in all states. The abundance 
of the things of this life never made any happy, but 
it is godliness with content, that hath ever been the 
great gain of the righteous, which labour for more 
than for outward riches. Therefore, as I have said, 
seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness 
thereof, and all other things shall be added ; and 
if the Lord should be pleased to bless thee in the 
things of this life, set not thy heart thereon ; but 
remember it is a blessing bestowed on thee, the 
more to humble thy soul ; for the more God gives, 
the more humble he expects us to be. If losses and 
crosses come, be not dismayed nor discouraged ; 
the Lord sees what is best for thee ; and remember 
what a good man said in his day : — " I have been 
young, and now am old, yet have I not seen the right- 
eous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. " And 
if things do abound, remember they are not for thy- 
self alone ; for " the earth is the Lord's, and the 
fulness thereof." Therefore be free, and desire God 
to open thy heart to those that stand in need, and 
be serviceable in thy day in doing good, and com- 
municate to those who stand in need of outward 



326 



THE LIFE OF 



things, with which God may have blest thee. 
Desire him to make thee serviceable in all things 
that will tend to the honour of his name, by open- 
ing thy mouth in wisdom, that thou mayest like- 
wise charitably hand forth good advice to them 
that stand in need of it, for it is a charitable part to 
help the soul as well as the body. And if the Lord 
should see fit to give thee children, desire of him a 
blessing for them, that they may grow up in his 
favour, and that he may give thee wisdom to bring 
them up to his honour, towards which a good pat- 
tern of meekness and humility will be a great help. 
When thou chastisest them, do it not in anger, but 
in love and gentleness, and with mild words : seek- 
ing to reach the witness of God in them. Let it 
not be thy chiefest care to provide for them abun- 
dance in this world, but rather labour with the 
Lord, that He may be a portion to them ; for it is 
He only that can make thee and them happy. 



[The Editor regrets that the biographical materials 
which have been preserved to this day, respecting 
John Croker, whose early life presented so much to 
interest the youthful reader more especially, should 
be found so limited. From the period of his re- 
moval to Horsham to his death, (which took place 
about sixteen years after,) but little has been left on 
record respecting him. Some few particulars of 
his expressions during his last illness, by his wife, 
now only remain to be brought forward.] 

He was at our First day's meeting at Horsham, 
and the same night, was taken with a violent pain. 
Sometime after, he signified his satisfaction that he 
had been at meeting that day : he had spoken hi 



JOHN CROKER. 



327 



the meeting to his comfort, was much engaged in 
his testimony at that time, in advice to the young 
amongst us, (as very frequently he was at other 
times opened in the love of God to the youth,) — 
desiring that they might grow up in a sober, re- 
ligious, righteous life, and conduct themselves 
agreeably to our holy profession ; putting them in 
mind of our good elders, that trod the way for us 
through much sufferings, and great hardships. At 
this last meeting, he signified to us his desire to be 
clear ; saying, the Lord knows whether ever I may 
be here again, which seemed as if he did somewhat 
question it. 

In his illness, he many times prayed that the 
Lord would cut short his work in righteousness, 
his pain being great. At another time, that the 
Lord would send his angels, and carry him into 
Abraham's bosom : he also said, he had nothing to 
do but to die, and that he was easy and quiet in his 
mind ; adding, that he did not fear death, hell, nor 
the grave ; and at another time, that the accuser of 
the brethren was cast out. Several times he was 
free in advice and exhortations to Friends, as they 
came to visit him, that they might keep in the way 
of Truth, and mentioned the danger they would fall 
into, if they wandered out of it. He gave several 
cautions, which were very affecting and tendering 
to all present. He further said, he had much more 
on his mind to mention, if he could obtain ease ; and 
he often advised to keep up our meetings, particularly 
our week-day meetings, and to live in love one with 
another, and not to let the world see to the contrary, 
— adding, he felt love and good will to all. 

We had two sons at home, and he was frequent 
in advice to them, the substance of which was, that 

\ 



328 



THE LIFE OF 



they might live in the true fear of the Lord, and be 
dutiful to their mother, and love the company of 
good Friends : he would often call for them, when 
out of his sight, with much love in his heart, for 
both them and me, and he manifested his love to me 
in many affectionate expressions. 

Something more than a day before his end, 
either a Friend or mvself savins; his hands and 
legs were cold ; his answer to us was, that we should 
rejoice and be exceeding glad ; meaning that death 
was so near at hand to him ; and sometimes when 
I said, ' my dear, thou art cold/ he would say, 
i not cold enough yet.' He was sensible during 
most of his illness, and perceived the approach of 
death. 

Although he had very little ease day or night, 
but was mostly in great pain : yet he gave us, who 
attended on him, not one hasty or unsavoury word ; 
and he was very tenderly concerned for me, lest I 
should be over-much troubled for the loss of him ; 
and said, i we came together in love, and had lived 
in love, and so should part / — with much more of 
this kind. 

He was indeed a very tender, loving husband, 
and an affectionate father ; yet not so blind in his 
affections, but that he could see the faults of his 
children ; and he was not sparing in his reproofs. 
A considerable time before his distemper seized him, 
he often spoke of dying ; and when night came, 
often said, — i one more day added to the rest/ or to 
that effect. 

He was one who numbered his days, and I may 
say, applied his heart to wisdom : of late years he 
slept but little, and at such times, when lie failed of 
sleep, was very thoughtful of a future state, as I 



JOHN CROKER. 329 

have found by discourse when I awoke. He dearly 
loved peace and unity, (and with his Friends a 
free conversation,) the contrary was a great trouble 
to him. He was also very ready and willing to do 
any service for such as did desire it, either Friends 
or others, as his neighbours can testify ; and he 
was considerate and compassionate to the poor, both 
to strangers, and to those that were not, and relieved 
them sometimes with what we should otherwise 
have made use of. 

As I lately lay on my bed, thinking on my dear 
husband, it came into my mind, with some comfort 
and satisfaction, that his memorial is blessed, and 
that his name shall be had in everlasting remem- 
brance in the book of life : for he was an honest, 
innocent man, and prized the good in himself and 
in others, as some now in being are sensible of; en- 
couraging them both by personal visits and advices, 
and also by writing to them. 

As to my own part, my loss is very great in 
divers respects, I often think ; for he took a part 
with me in all the troubles and exercises in which 
he could be helpful to me, and I may say he was to 
me a very faithful help-meet. 

Since it has pleased the Lord to remove my dear 
husband from me by death, it is my satisfaction that 
we lived in love and good agreement ; and (I 
think) I may safely say, we performed the cove- 
nants we entered into before many witnesses ; and 
I am satisfied he is entered into the glorious rest 
prepared for the people of God. 



He was born in the year 1672, (by the Kegister,) 
the eighth of the Twelfth month, in the town of 
z 



328 



THE LIFE OF 



they might live in the true fear of the Lord, and be 
dutiful to their mother, and love the company of 
good Friends : he would often call for them, when 
out of his sight, with much love in his heart, for 
both them and me, and he manifested his love to me 
in many affectionate expressions. 

Something more than a day before his end, 
either a Friend or myself saying his hands and 
legs were cold ; his answer to us was, that we should 
rejoice and be exceeding glad ; meaning that death 
was so near at hand to him ; and sometimes when 
I said, ' my dear, thou art cold/ he would say, 
' not cold enough yet.' He was sensible during 
most of his illness, and perceived the approach of 
death. 

Although he had verv little ease dav or nijiht, 
but was mostly in great pain : yet he gave us, who 
attended on him, not one hasty or unsavoury word; 
and he was very tenderly concerned for me, lest I 
should be over-much troubled for the loss of him ; 
and said, l we came together in love, and had lived 
in love, and so should part / — with much more of 
this kind. 

He was indeed a very tender, loving husband, 
and an affectionate father ; yet not so blind in his 
affections, but that he could see the faults of lii- 
children ; and he was not sparing in his reproofs. 
A considerable time before his distemper seized him, 
he often spoke of dying; and when night came, 
often said, — l one more day added to the rest/ or to 
that effect. 

He was one who numbered his dftys, and I may 
say, applied his heart to wisdom : of late years he 
slept but little, and at such times, when he failed of 
sleep, was very thoughtful of a future state, as I 



JOHN CROKER. 329 

have found by discourse when I awoke. He dearly 
loved peace and unity, (and with his Friends a 
free conversation,) the contrary was a great trouble 
to him. He was also very ready and willing to do 
any service for such as did desire it, either Friends 
or others, as his neighbours can testify ; and he 
was considerate and compassionate to the poor, both 
to strangers, and to those that were not, and relieved 
them sometimes with what we should otherwise 
have made use of. 

As I lately lay on my bed, thinking on my dear 
husband, it came into my mind, with some comfort 
and satisfaction, that his memorial is blessed, and 
that his name shall be had in everlasting remem- 
brance in the book of life : for he was an honest, 
innocent man, and prized the good in himself and 
in others, as some now in being are sensible of; en- 
couraging them both by personal visits and advices, 
and also by writing to them. 

As to my own part, my loss is very great in 
divers respects, I often think ; for he took a part 
with me in all the troubles and exercises in which 
he could be helpful to me, and I may say he was to 
me a very faithful help-meet. 

Since it has pleased the Lord to remove my dear 
husband from me by death, it is my satisfaction that 
we lived in love and good agreement ; and (I 
think) I may safely say, we performed the cove- 
nants we entered into before many witnesses ; and 
I am satisfied he is entered into the glorious rest 
prepared for the people of God. 



He was born in the year 1672, (by the Register,) 
the eighth of the Twelfth month, in the town of 



330 THE LIFE OF JOHN CROKER. 

Plymouth, in the county of Devon ; and departed 
this life, the twenty-ninth of the Eleventh month 
1727, at Horsham, in the county of Sussex, aged 
very nearly fifty-five years ; and was buried in 
Friends' burying ground at Horsham, the first day 
of the Twelfth month. 



THE END. 



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